


Wings of Fire: The Sapphire Winglet

by Amethyst_Wereraven



Category: Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Gen, M/M, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 23,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22374436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amethyst_Wereraven/pseuds/Amethyst_Wereraven
Summary: Jade Mountain Academy is the best school in all of Pyrrhia. Inter-tribe, full of friendly teachers, and with the most variety of classes anyone could ever imagine!But what if there was more to it?Silverscales knew that all dragons weren't nice, but what of the words painted onto the cave walls? What of the hatred towards the founders within the sentences?Well, it would seem that she had solve the mystery of the words, if no one else will. Before another dragonet dies for the blood in the words.
Relationships: Deathbringer/Glory (Wings of Fire), OC/OC
Comments: 10
Kudos: 26
Collections: WoF_Books





	1. Silverscales

**Author's Note:**

> Wings of Fire does not belong to me! Only my OCs!  
> Feedback is also appreciated! :)
> 
> Updates whenever the motivation hits me

### SILVERSCALES

Silverscales watched as Starfruit went to retrieve the letters that arrived that morning. She eyed the scrolls, trying to spot a certain seal on the ribbons that held them shut.  
Unfortunately, when Starfruit came in and sprawled the mail everywhere on Silverscales’s table, there was no seal with a mountain and a dragon silhouette.  
The approval from Jade Mountain Academy hadn’t arrived yet.  
‘Cheer up, Silver.’ Starfruit looked at her friend’s disappointed face, had it been that obvious? ‘We only sent the letter a week ago, the teachers might be busy with other applications.’  
Silverscales sighed and nodded a bit, ‘I know, I know,’ she said, looking at the letters again. ‘But I really want to be accepted. Jade Mountain Academy is the best school in all of Pyrrhia! If we don’t get in, we’ll have to go back to RainWing/NightWing School next month.’  
Starfruit agreed with a huff, ‘Lobster might be more nervous than you.’ She started to sort through the scrolls, picking up those addressed to her on the ribbons. ‘He’s the only SeaWing going to that school here, and not a lot of dragonets are kind,’ she said.  
It was a bit hard to believe that RainWings would be mean, they always seemed like a nice tribe. But Silverscales didn’t miss the light bruises or small cuts that Lobster would get from fighting, nor those times he was sent to detention in the guise of staying back to handle co-curricular activities.  
So much for being the good kid.  
Instead of continuing their conversation, Silverscales sorted out her own letters. She got two. One was an IceWing academy suggesting her to apply to study there, though she had no plans to. The academy was located in such a cold place, as Silverscales have heard. But even though she wasn’t bothered by the cold, she was not interested.  
The second letter was from a friend in the SkyWing tribe. Red Emperor, he called himself. It was a reply to Silverscales’s previous letter, where she inquired about the school in his town. He’d rather go to Jade Mountain Academy like Silverscales.  
_Three moons,_ Silverscales thought, putting her letters away. _Not even 7 yet and already schools want to take us in._ But then again, a lot of schools are trying to earn their name after Jade Mountain Academy proved its worth.  
A thump drew Silverscales’s attention to the treehouse’s entrance. She looked over the mezzanine and saw Lobster shaking off some leaves.  
Lobster was breathtaking in the sunlight, Silverscales thought. The leaf walls filtered the sunlight in a way that it looked like the floor was the sea. But on Lobster… His scales were almost white if it were not for the blue tint to it, and his pink markings seemed to glow in the sunlight.  
Maybe sunlight has benefits for other tribes than RainWings.  
‘Lobster! You have a letter!’ Starfruit was yelling over the wooden railing, one claw waving with the scroll grasped in it.  
Lobster tilted his head and flew up to the next floor, Silverscales and Starfruit quickly back away to make room for him. Out of all three, Lobster was the biggest, and he practically dwarfed Starfruit. So much for having dwarfism.  
‘Apparently the stairs are nonexistent,’ Silverscales said as looked up at Lobster with a petty frown. It didn’t last long when Lobster grinned at her.  
‘Apparently not.’ He picked the seal off the ribbon and unrolled the scroll he held. His sigh came quick. ‘It’s the underwater school again,’ he told his friends, he rolled up the scroll again and shrugged. ‘Ah well, they’ll stop when Jade Mountain accepts our application.’  
Silverscales smiled at Lobster’s enthusiasm. He was always the more responsible, calm, and optimistic one. It’s a wonder that he hasn’t gone crazy from the shenanigans Silverscales and Starfruit pull him into.  
‘When they accept our application…’ Starfruit muttered, no doubt entertaining the idea in her head.  
‘And they will,’ Lobster said. He patted Silverscales’s back, as if he had sensed her doubts.  
She smiled up at him, trying her best not to stare at his blue and pink eyes. ‘I’m sure you’re right,’ she agreed, ‘after all, our grades are great!’ Silverscales stayed quiet as she thought about it, ‘Maybe,’ she added.  
Starfruit rolled her eyes and left for her room, ‘Maybe the letter will come tomorrow,’ she said as her tail disappeared from view.  
‘I hope so…’ Silverscales murmured, looking at the letters on her desk. She turned when Lobster bumped wings.  
‘It’ll be fine, Silly.’ He said. ‘I saw a nice waterfall on the way back, maybe icy cold water could ease your mind.’  
Silverscales giggled and shook her head, ‘Cold to you, maybe,’ she said, ‘I don’t really feel anything cold.’  
Lobster nodded, ‘Of course,’ he said. He bumped wings with Silverscales again and made his way out of her room. But before he could leave her sights, she called out to him.  
‘Why don’t you go for the underwater school?’  
Lobster stopped in his tracks. He played the question in his head, then turned around to look into Silverscales’s room, sticking his head between the curtain made of large banana tree leaves.  
Silverscales pawed at the floor, a habit that shows she’s nervous, as some had mentioned. The long spines behind her head bristled bit. ‘They keep sending you letters right? Requesting you to check out their school?’ She forced the spines to settle down. ‘So why don’t you go? There won’t be any RainWings or NightWings to find trouble with you.’  
Lobster sighed, and Silverscales feared that she had asked a too sensitive question. He didn’t have a very good relationship with his mother back home.  
But he answered anyway. ‘I’d rather stay with you and Starfruit,’ he said, ‘you guys are my best friends, I’m not going to let you two get into trouble without me.’  
Silverscales almost laughed, ‘We do get into a lot of trouble,’ she said while nodding. She waved to Lobster before he left, waiting until he was a few steps away before she minded her own business. She swept the letters on her desk to a side, and dragged a small slab of stone to her.  
Time to ease her mind.


	2. Lobster

### LOBSTER

Lobster could hear Silverscales shuffling around on the ground floor, most likely with Starfruit. It was funny, Silverscales thought she was being stealthy, but her bulky figure hardly made it a reality.  
It was Lobster’s hatchday. And after 5 years, Lobster knew that Silverscales and Starfruit were planning a party. Despite his best efforts, Lobster couldn’t stop them from hosting one if he tried, and he couldn’t bear to not act surprised whenever the girls pop out from their hiding spot. Starfruit always had the best hiding spots.  
The sunlight shining into Lobster’s eyes annoyed him, and being lazy to draw the curtains close, he slowly let himself slide out of his hammock.  
He got up and shook off his last bout of sleepiness. What a nice day it was, too bad it woke him from his sleep. But it would make a good day for Suntime.  
Carefully, Lobster pushed his way through the curtains and out of his room. He could still hear Silverscales and Starfruit planning the last bits of the party.  
‘Did everyone get the invitation?’ Silverscales asked, she appeared from the blind spot under the mezzanine, holding something in her talons.  
Lobster tried to see what it was, but he couldn’t risk Silverscales seeing him crouched behind the twigs and leaves. It looked like something was wrapped with banana leaves. Actually, that’s definitely what it was. But what was inside? Why was Silverscales seemingly protective of it?  
These were questions Lobster wanted answers to.  
‘Everyone,’ Starfruit said, still under the indoor balcony, ‘And everyone said yes. They’ll be there by the time we finish our visit to the waterfall.’  
Hah. Silly dragonets. Lobster was already awake.  
He grinned at the thought of how his friends thought they were being sneaky, but really, he could hear their talons scrape the floors if he was really quiet.

Lobster flew with his friends side by side, with him in the lead as they flew towards the waterfall he saw yesterday.  
From what he told them, the waterfall was three times the height of the trees everyone rests on for Suntime. And the water was so clear, dragons would believe that not even Scavengers touched it.  
And if that was true, this trio would be the first to play by it.  
It was surprisingly quite close to the kingdom. And like Lobster said, it was huge. Scavengers would be crushed by it if they tried to swim in it, maybe some have tried.  
There were trees and shrubs growing out of the stones near the waterfall, leaves brandishing a healthy green and the shrubs growing berries ripe for the picking.  
Flying close, Lobster could feel the water droplets splatter against his scales. It was as refreshing as it was cold.  
He led his friends up the waterfall, flying against the water’s current. ‘The view is great from the top,’ he said to his friends, ‘you could see the entire kingdom if you knew where to look!’  
And at the very top, the trio sat by the river that fed the waterfall. Lobster watched as Silverscales peered over the edge, she scooted closer to him as she marvelled at the height.  
The way Silverscales processed the scenery was funny and cute, she was fascinated by the size of the waterfall, but is afraid of falling despite her wings. Hence the reason she was so close.  
Lobster’s quiet moment didn’t last that long, as Starfruit starting munching away at the berries she picked from the side of the waterfall.  
‘Star,’ Lobster said, turning to her with a grin and a disgusted face. ‘Do you have any idea how to close your mouth when you chew?’  
‘Nope.’ Starfruit licked her lips and shoved more berries into her mouth.  
With a sigh, Lobster shook his head and turned his attention to his satchel. He fished through the vials of water and the compass he brought for his spyglass. It was a handy invention, small enough to fit in a bag, and large enough for dragons to look far with it.  
He held it up to his eye and slowly looked around with it. And just as he said, the RainWing/NightWing kingdom could be seen.  
Good, Lobster thought, I would hate for these two to realize I was over-exaggerating. ‘Here.’ Lobster turned to Silverscales and handed her the spyglass, then he pointed to the kingdom’s direction. ‘You can see the kingdom if you face there.’  
As Silverscales looked through it, Lobster smacked Starfruit gently with his tail. ‘Stop that,’ he grumbled, ‘you’re going to get juice all over my scales.’  
‘You’re no fun,’ Starfruit said, wiping her snout, ‘You could use more colour on your scales, maybe some purple to go along with your pink markings.’  
Lobster scoffed and pettily flared his fins, ‘I look very pretty, thank you very much.’  
‘Time and place, dragonets,’ Silverscales muttered, still looking through the spyglass.  
Most wouldn’t believe Silverscales if she said she was the oldest, but it was true. Lobster and Starfruit were both a year younger than Silverscales, with Starfruit having to have hatched a few days after Lobster.  
But Lobster does enjoy teasing Silverscales for being smaller than him.  
‘Oh my moons.’ Silverscales lowered the spyglass, she handed it to Lobster and pointed. ‘A dragon with Jade Mountain Academy’s sigil on his wings, south of the kingdom.’  
Lobster looked through the spyglass, at where Silverscales had said. Starfruit leaned forward, as if she could see anything from so far away.  
‘It’s a messenger,’ Lobster said, he quickly tucked the spyglass away in his satchel and stood. ‘They’re probably carrying the registration scroll, let’s catch up with them.’  
Without arguing, Silverscales and Starfruit stood. They watched Lobster leap off the edge of the waterfall, and followed suit.  
As if they were part of a synchronised flying team, the three dragonets spread their wings and swept themselves into the air, flying so close to the river at the bottom that they dragged some water along with them.  
When they reached the kingdom, dragonets were already following the messenger, staying clear so that no one would crash into him.  
Without a word, the messenger stopped by a bulletin board and pinned a paper onto it with a small stake, then he took off immediately.  
Dragonets crowded around the board, looking for their names on the list. Lobster and Silverscales couldn’t push through, as they were too big or too bulky. But Lobster saw Starfruit leap over the dragonets.  
Her small size had allowed her to skitter across the small sea of dragonets without them feeling a thing, and the other two could only wait nervously at one side.  
After a minute or so, Starfruit’s yellow scales became brighter. She turned and ran back to her friends.  
Lobster was nervous to hear the results, he wanted to enter Jade Mountain Academy as much as Silverscales and Starfruit, maybe even more. And the fact Starfruit hasn’t said anything made him want to explode.  
Starfruit skidded to a halt, and she ruffled her fins happily. ‘We’re in!’


	3. Starfruit

### STARFRUIT

Starfruit watched as Lobster and Silverscales’ expressions almost literally brightened up. Lobster’s markings were glowing, and Silverscales had the biggest smile Starfruit has ever seen.  
‘We’re in.’ Lobster seemed to still be processing the fact that he and his friends were accepted into Jade Mountain Academy. And as it dawned on him, his smile was almost as wide as Silverscales’. ‘We’re in!’  
‘Woah!’ Starfruit ducked as Lobster swung around, his tail barely missing her head. Though she wasn’t able to avoid his arm as he picked her up and dragged Silverscales to him.  
‘Hah! What did I tell ya?’ Lobster looked between Silverscales and Starfruit, his tail thumping behind him. ‘I said they’ll accept out application,’ he said, he looked to Silverscales, ‘and they did!’  
Starfruit giggled, ‘It’s still unbelievable,’ she said. She wiggled out of Lobster’s hold and perched on his shoulder. ‘I had to look again three times to be sure!’  
She didn’t listen to what Silverscales said, as she looked up and saw Avocado, a green RainWing with brown legs and tail, fly towards the Suntime platforms early. Starfruit almost gasped when she realized that she had forgotten about Lobster’s surprise party.  
While Lobster wasn’t concentrating as he talked, Starfruit smacked Silverscales with her tail. When Silverscales looked over, Starfruit tilted her head towards Avocado.  
Silverscales immediately got the message, and she nodded.  
As Starfruit leapt off Lobster’s shoulder and flew off, she caught Silverscales say to Lobster; ‘Hey, what do you say we pick some berries to celebrate?’  
Celebrate indeed.

Starfruit nitpicked at the fruits that were lining up a small part of the table in baskets. Mangoes, bananas, coconuts… so many fruits. And so many dragonets.  
Neither Starfruit nor Silverscales thought that many would show up, considering that they would have to eat mostly seafood. Somehow, Starfruit managed to find someone who could trade for some fish from the SeaWing kingdom.  
Some of Lobster’s favourites were arranged neatly on the other side of the table, salmon, swordfish, shrimp, crabs, and so much more. And all raw, just how Lobster likes his seafood.  
‘We might as well be a sea forest, am I right?’  
Starfruit turned to Jolly, a RainWing true to his name, always pink and purple and smiling.  
She chuckled at his joke, ‘Might as well,’ she agreed, looking at all the seafood. ‘But it will only be for today, don’t worry.’ Starfruit bumped Jolly’s wing, she walked over to the edge of the platform, on the lookout for Silverscales and Lobster.  
‘Oh, I’m not,’ Jolly said, joining Starfruit and looking at the kingdom below. ‘Besides, nothing can get me down! I got accepted into Jade Mountain Academy!’  
‘You too?’ Starfruit looked up at Jolly in surprise, his scales had taken up some yellow splotches, mixing in with his usual pink and purples.  
Jolly laughed, ‘Don’t look so surprised,’ he chuckled, ruffling his fins. He sighed happily and turned his snout towards the sunlight. ‘As much as I love this place, I want to try something new. Stretch out my wings and explore, ya know.’  
Starfruit nodded along with his words, she felt the same way too. While she loved the sight of the forest, the wooden huts, and the school, they were all the same. She needed a new sight, like the waterfall.  
Besides, it would make the kingdom a wonderful sight to see when she returns from Jade Mountain Academy.  
‘I see them!’  
Starfruit and Jolly turned to the dragonet who shouted, and they could see Silverscales and Lobster in the distance, carrying some berries with them from the waterfall.  
Quickly, Starfruit went to greet them. Lobster seemed dumbfounded when he landed, looking around to take in the simple decor and the big ‘HAPPY HATCHDAY’ scribbled onto a canvas banner.  
‘Happy hatchday!’  
Lobster stared at the banner, his jaw was hanging as he looked around. ‘For me?’ Lobster stepped away from the edge of the platform, looking at all the grinning dragonets around him. ‘Aww guys,’ he said, he looked at the seafood on the table, and his eyes seemed to twinkle.  
He turned to Silverscales and Starfruit, ‘Did you guys plan this?’  
Silverscales giggled and nodded. ‘We wanted to do something different,’ she said proudly, ‘so we hogged the biggest Suntime platform we could find and had this all set up.’  
‘And everyone helped!’ Starfruit gestured to those gathered, ‘We even got your favourites, so enjoy your hatchday!’

Starfruit was small, but she could really eat. A few minutes into the party, and she had eaten most of the berries and bananas.  
She watched with the others as Silverscales threw shrimp into Lobster’s mouth from across the platform. Cheers erupted with every shrimp that he ate, and a NightWing would snatch up any that bounce off to eat for themself.  
Starfruit was happy that Lobster was enjoying himself, it wasn’t everyday that the local dragonets were nice to him.  
After the shrimp basket was empty, Lobster went to eat the rest of the seafood.  
Too long he went with only fruits and vegetables, and thanks to a local fisher, now he got to indulge on all the seafood they had.  
Then, Silverscales tapped his back, holding a package in her talons.  
Starfruit’s ears perked up, the package held an item Silverscales had been working on for the past few weeks. Starfruit remembered keeping Lobster busy with her scrolls while Silverscales snuck away to rivers nearby.  
Not even Starfruit has seen what the end result was.  
She moved to the mango basket, hoping to get a look at Lobster’s present.  
Lobster carefully opened the package, as if he was afraid that his hook-like claws would shred the gift easily.  
Starfruit was surprised to see Lobster pull out a pendant, and if she was reading Lobster’s expression correctly, so was he.  
Both Silverscales and Lobster stared at each other, and Starfruit felt as if she was interrupting their moment, so she quietly went to join Jolly and his sight-seeing.  
Jolly turned to Starfruit when she sat down next to him, ‘Not taking part of the fun?’  
Starfruit shook her head, though she smiled. ‘I think those two could some time to themselves,’ she said, she glanced back with Jolly, ‘look at them.’  
Silverscales took the pendant from Lobster. Its cord was made of thin vines braided to look like a rope, and on the end of it was a cracked stone. Engraved on the front, as Starfruit had seen before, was a blue glowing spiral. Silverscales smiled softly as she helped Lobster put it on.  
The two RainWingsturned away when Silverscales and Lobster hugged, foreheads touching and tails intertwined.

The party ended later than Starfruit had thought. It wasn’t until evening did everyone start leaving, bidding Lobster their last hatchday wishes before they flew for home.  
Starfruit helped tie the basket’s to Silverscales’s side, and carried the banner on her back. They flew home with Lobster, who had been sitting in a corner, pouting because the girls told him he wasn’t allowed to do the cleanup for his own party.  
Even though Starfruit would love to hang out with her friends until they fell asleep, she decided that Silverscales and Lobster could use the night to themselves. They would want to read that scroll that Starfruit had no interest in anyway.  
It could be her gift to Lobster.  
So Starfruit bid Lobster a last hatchday wish, and said goodnight to him and Silverscales. As she returned to her room, she heard Lobster say to Silverscales, ‘Thank you.’  
Moons almighty did Starfruit wish they would just confess.


	4. Jade Mountain Academy

### JADE MOUNTAIN ACADEMY

Silverscales wasn’t sure whether or not she should bring anything, but Lobster advised that they do, just in case. Never hurts to be too prepared, he had said. And he did have a point, but Silverscales wasn’t really willing to inflate his ego.  
She packed up the essentials, empty scrolls, a travelling inkwell, a flask full of water… what else was there?  
Oh right, her friends.  
Silverscales left her room to find Lobster and Starfruit, her satchel tucked snugly under a wing. She found Starfruit in her room, still packing, but Lobster was nowhere to be found in the treehouse.  
Strange. Where was he? They were leaving for Jade Mountain Academy today, where could he be at this time of day? He wasn’t sleeping in like Silverscales thought he was, nor was he reading on their balcony.  
Silverscales needn’t worry too much. Just as she looked in Lobster’s room again, she heard a thump by the doorway and turned around to see him holding a sack in his jaws.  
‘Lobby!’ Silverscales walked over to the railing of the indoor balcony, frowning slightly even though he was smiling. ‘Where have you been? We leave for Jade Mountain soon!’  
‘Oh, relax,’ Lobster said, he put the sack down and gestured to his satchel hanging next to the doorway. ‘I already packed. Just thought I’d get us some of our favourite fruits to share with the winglet.’  
Silverscales hopped down the stairs and joined Lobster, she nudged him with her wing and poked her snout into the sack of fruits.  
Full of mangoes, blueberries, and other fruits that Silverscales and her friends snack on all the time. She wondered if the winglet they’ll be in would like fruits. Maybe the MudWing would, but what about the other tribes?  
‘But will we be in the same winglet?’ Starfruit walked down the stairs, satchel slung over her shoulder. Her tail curled around the clawrail, being too long for her to drag it around behind her.  
Lobster shrugged, ‘I’m assuming we will be,’ he said, ‘I mean, we’re already almost half a winglet.’  
Silverscales didn’t say anything, but she hoped that they would be in the same winglet. She couldn’t imagine facing new dragons without Lobster or Starfruit with her. It was as if they were her pillars of support.  
She forced her spines to settle down, and instead focused on the fact that Lobster was wearing the necklace she gave him on his hatchday last week.  
‘We should go,’ Silverscales said, she turned away and prodded her friends with her tail, to which they jokingly shied away from.  
The trio dived out of their porch and spread their wings, swooping up into the air and quickly gaining altitude. Queen Glory had told those that were attending Jade Mountain Academy to gather on the Arboretum, where she and her husband would guide them on their way to the school. According to her, this was so that no dragonets got lost.  
It was easy to find the platform, but only Starfruit dared land on it.  
Silverscales was surprised with the amount of dragons standing on the board, she had not seen half of the dragonets before! Was the kingdom really that big?  
She and Lobster remained in the sky, flapping their wings in place as they looked around. Silverscales didn’t know about Lobster, but she was keeping an eye on Starfruit, even if she was sitting on the edge, close enough to talk to her friends if she wished.  
_But you may never know, she’s so small!_ Silverscales thought to herself.  
Long after a few more dragonets arrived, two adults flew overhead, circling back to hover before everyone else.  
And everyone knew it was Queen Glory and King Deathbringer.  
Silverscales had never heard the queen nor the king’s voice before, for she has never met them or sought their counselling. But she was surprised to hear that Queen Glory’s voice was softer than expected.  
‘Is everydragon accounted for?’ Queen Glory inquired in a loud voice, surveying the crowd with a calm look. King Deathbringer, on the other claw, looked as if he would drag Queen Glory away.  
Silverscales saw Queen Glory look at her direction with a surprised look, but it also looked as if she had expected to see whoever she was looking at. Silverscales glanced around and saw Lobster smiling proudly. But why?  
‘If every dragonet attending JMA is accounted for, we will leave for the mountain,’ King Deathbringer announced. He raised an eyecrest when Queen Glory gave him a look.  
‘JMA?’  
‘You can’t expect me to say Jade Mountain Academy all the time.’  
Queen Glory didn’t argue further, but instead sighed and gestured to the dragonets. ‘Come! Let us fly for Jade Mountain!’  
In a flurry of wingbeats, dragonets followed Queen Glory in some form of a line. Silverscales had to act quick and pick Starfruit up, fearing that she might get trampled over or knocked off. But when most of the commotion had died down, Silverscales felt safe enough to let Starfruit go. And together with Lobster, they flew after the storm of dragonets.  
King Deathbringer flanked the storm, making sure no one strayed off the flight path.

It was very hard to not see Jade Mountain. The imposing, dragon-like mountain loomed over the storm of dragonets. It looked like a MudWing, since the head was angular. But it had the teeth of an IceWing, horns of a SkyWing, whiskers of an old SeaWing, spikes of a NightWing, nose spike of a SandWing, and fangs of a RainWing. It was as if every tribe had contributed to its formation.  
Silverscales saw SeaWings emerging from the ocean and swimming into the river flowing out of Jade Mountain Academy, entering the school from there.  
SkyWings flew into the ‘mouth’ of the mountain, where the RainWings and NightWings will come bustling through soon. IceWings entered through the ‘eyes’, two holes large enough for two dragons to fly in at once. MudWings and SandWings entered through the lower caves, bigger than the eye caves, but smaller than the mouth cave.  
_Amazing..._ Silverscales thought, there were so many dragons of so many shades, she didn’t even know there were so many shades of blue and yellow!  
She lightly brushed her tail against Lobster and Starfruit’s own, making sure they were still flying with her. She was relieved when she felt their tails brush back.  
As the storm of RainWings and NightWings flew into the school, Silverscales saw a welcome banner hanging from two stalactites decorated with flowers and feathers.  
‘Watch your wings and tails!’ Queen Glory shouted to the dragonets, she landed when they reached a cave so large, Silverscales thought they could fit the entirety of Pyrrhia. She was surprised when she found more than enough space to spin around and flap her wings in. Just how big was this cave?  
‘Never missing the opportunity to make an entrance, huh?’  
Silverscales yelped as Lobster hid behind her, making sure to hide his eyes in particular. ‘Lobby…?’ Silverscales glanced at Lobster, then turned to see Princess Tsunami, or as she apparently wants to be called; Tsunami.  
She and Queen Glory bumped wings in greeting. ‘The Great Hall needs a great entrance,’ Queen Glory said, smiling with pride. ‘Oh, and this guy’s here too.’  
Deathbringer makes an offended noise as he joins Queen Glory, ‘Some guy? Is your husband  
?’  
Silverscales turned her attention away from the adults, she watched Starfruit as she prods Lobster’s side.  
‘What’s up, Lobster?’ Starfruit asked, innocent beige eyes trying to meet his blue and pink ones. ‘Last minute nerves?’  
Lobster frantically shook his head, he stood properly and draped his wings over Silverscales and Starfruit, guiding them away from the disbanding group. ‘Let’s see what winglet we’re in,’ he murmured softly.  
Silverscales wanted to push some more, ask him why he was so nervous. But she figured she shouldn’t. ‘Yeah, talons-crossed that we’re in the same winglet, eh?’ she added in, glancing at Starfruit in attempt to signal to her to go along with Lobster.  
There were maps of the school between the two caves on each side of the wall, directories to the places in the school.  
Silverscales knew the place was impressive, but wow did they have so many rooms.  
She and her friends went to the library, using Lobster’s good memory to lead them. The winglet board was being displayed there now, so that dragonets could double-check their winglets and clawmates.  
The tunnel to the library was easy to spot, just like everything in Jade Mountain Academy. Lobster seemed eager, as Silverscales had suspected. He trotted ahead of her and Starfruit, tail thumping behind him in excitement.  
Starfruit took the chance of Lobster walking ahead and jumped onto Silverscales’s back, leaning on her head and reading the scrolls lined along the walls. ‘So many idioms…’ Starfruit murmured, sounding fascinated by the scrolls hanging on the wall.  
Lobster led his friends out of the tunnel, and Silverscales nearly crashed into him when he stopped.  
‘Lobby, what’s the hold up?’ Silverscales looked around Lobster’s shoulder, and she could see why he stopped.  
The library was huge! Not to mention beautiful. The leaf covered roof reminded her of the hatcheries back home, and the filtered sunlight made the room look so bright. It was a heaven for Lobster, Silverscales thought.  
In the center, dragonets were looking at a board by the librarian’s desk. Silverscales recognized the dragon behind the desk to be Starflight, one of the legendary Dragonets of Destiny.  
He was handing out a small pouch to the new students, though Silverscales couldn’t make out what he was saying to them.  
When Lobster and Silverscales approached the board, a MudWing with light scales on his body and darker ones on his back was looking closely at the board. He had the neck pouch already.  
Starfruit leaned over Silverscales’ wing and looked at the board, she let out a single laugh. ‘What are the chances? We’re all in the same winglet!’  
‘Really?’ Lobster stood next to the MudWing, scanning the board for their names. Silverscales almost giggled when his markings glowed a little. ‘We are!’ he exclaimed, looking at her, ‘The Sapphire Winglet!’  
‘Wait, you guys are part of my winglet?’ The MudWing turned to Lobster, surprised. He then backed up enough to look at Silverscales and Starfruit, ‘I’m the MudWing of your group!’  
Silverscales nearly fell back with he extended his claw to shake, ‘Nice to meet you! My name’s Gravel!’


	5. Gravel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for not updating the fic last week, a cold hit me hard and I've been too busy coughing to draw.  
> But worry not! Chapter 6 will come out some time this week!

### GRAVEL

Gravel put on his best friendly smile, hoping it would ease up theNightWing’s nerves. Silverscales was her name, Gravel had read it on the winglet board. Her spines had bristled and poked the RainWing, making her skitter off.  
After a moment or so, Silverscales took Gravel’s claw and shook it. ‘Nice to meet you,’ she said, smiling back as her spines settled down.  
She was an odd NightWing. Her scales were more grey, but shone like silver in the sunlight. Her wings had a black to white gradient and zig-zag star patterns. Her figure was bulky, and her snout thick like ordinary NightWings. But her tail had a whip-thin end, and her spines and horns were longer than usual. She didn’t have a teardrop scale though.  
Gravel proceeded to then shake the tiny RainWing’s claw, Starfruit was her name, if Gravel recalled correctly. She was so small… so small that she might have been 1 year old. But as far as Gravel knew, 1 year olds would be only starting to walk.  
Lastly, he shook the SeaWing’s claw. Lobster the SeaWing. He looked like an albino, but his scales still had a blue tint to it, his markings and left eye were pink instead of red, and he still had blue in his right eye. Interesting. He also wore what seemed to be a clawcrafted necklace.  
‘Good to meet the MudWing of our winglet.’ Lobster looked at the board again, and his eyes narrowed a bit. ‘What’s up with the small lines between some of our names?’  
Gravel turned to the board, looking at their names. ‘Oh, those are for clawmates!’ Gravel said, ‘I’m clawmates with the SandWing, Glow,’ he turned to Silverscales, ‘and you, Silverscales.’  
He wasn’t sure why, but Silverscales looked a bit shocked. She turned to her friends, who in turn looked worriedly at her.  
MudWings may not be so bright of a tribe, but Gravel was quick to find out that the three of these dragonets were friends. Close friends, even, if knowing they’re not clawmates made them look so worried.  
In an attempt to lighten the mood, he grunted and puffed out his chest. ‘You guys need to get this, you know?’ Gravel said, pointing at the pouch around his neck. ‘It will hold your library card to borrow books, or put whatever you want in it, I guess.’  
The three new dragonets had turned their attention to Gravel, then at the satchel.  
‘I hear that some dragonets need their library cards?’  
Everyone looked at Starflight, who faced their direction. It was impossible to know if he was looking straight at them under the blindfold, but Gravel felt scared when he thought about the two possibly burnt and empty eye sockets staring straight at him.  
He shivered the feeling off.  
‘Yes, we do, actually.’ Starfruit replied, she had to climb onto the counter in order to look at Starflight properly. She was so tiny. ‘What do we do to get them?’  
‘Why, you just come here,’ Starflight said with a soft chuckle. His assistant, who Gravel heard being called Fatespeaker, pulled out three pouches from a box under the desk. Each were made to size.  
Once the pouches were secured around the trio’s neck, they leave the library along with Gravel.  
As they leave, an echo of a cheery voice blares through the school.  
‘Attention, beloved new students!’ The voice was coming from a hole in the wall. Or was it a tiny tunnel network that carries the voice of the announcer throughout the school? ‘As this is your first day here, there will be no class! You have until curfew to explore the school, I hope you enjoy the stay. If you need any help, you can always ask your fellow teachers!’  
‘That must be Sunny, the principal.’ Lobster was staring at the hole at the very top of the corridor. A lizard crawled into it.  
‘Really?’ Gravel asked, quickly trotting to catch up with him and his friends.  
Lobster hummed and gave a single nod, the pendant he wore made soft noises as it collides with the button on the pouch. ‘Heard she has a cheery voice,’ he said, ‘And who else would make an announcement other than the other teachers? Though I doubt any sound as cheerful as that.’

As Gravel explored the school with his winglet, they exchanged chit-chat here and there, soon escalating to a full blown conversation. They told each other about themselves, and pieces of their childhood. Lobster was oddly quiet at those parts, only sharing times he played with his unnamed siblings before he fled in attempt to gain his mother’s attention, and failed.  
They passed by the dorms as they explored. They didn’t even need to look at the carved sign on the wall, the place was bustling with dragonets and a couple of staff members. Dragonets were claiming dens, or wrestling to claim what they thought was the better cave.  
The dorms were also bigger than Gravel expected, and completely not what he expected. He thought of corridors and tunnels, caves without curtains so that other dragonets can hangout with their family, friends, or interact with new dragons.  
But instead, the short corridor led to a peak, big enough to allow around ten dragons to stand on with their wings half-spread. It could probably fit more. Gravel was not good with estimating things.  
The peak allowed dragons to leap off and glide or fly into a large space within the mountain. It was like a deep hole, a hole that started from the top full of stalactites, and ended in the deep water and the few stalagmites where SeaWings lounged.  
Caves were dug neatly into the walls, very clearly dragon-made. Seaweed, leaf, or canvas curtains either covered the caves or were tied to one side. Those ones were probably vacant.  
Between the stalactites and in empty parts of the ceiling, holes covered by leaves allowed light to shine in.  
‘Better claim a good cave,’ Silverscales said, watching two dragonets wrestling in the air over a cave next to a small waterfall.  
‘What if our clawmates chose one already?’ Gravel asked, peering over the edge to look at the SeaWings. Some other dragonets played in the shallows.  
‘Then we find them,’ Silverscales replied, though Gravel could’ve sworn he heard a tinge of nervousness in her voice. She nudged Lobster and dived off the peak, and he and Starfruit followed suit, looking like synchronized flyers.  
Quickly, Gravel followed after them, bumbling about in the air before flapping to catch up.  
No one went into a cave to claim it, they were all looking for their clawmates, to see if they had claimed a cave already.  
Gravel and Silverscales were with a dragonet named Glow, a SandWing. How would they know what she looks like?  
And speak of the devil…  
‘Lo, Silverscales!’  
At the call of her name, Silverscales came to a sudden halt, and all three dragonets around her nearly flew past or crashed.  
A SandWing was poking her head out of a cave decently above the water, she had such a sandy colour to her, looking as if she was actually made of sand. She was grinning up at the group, black eyes twinkling with young mischief.  
Silverscales glanced back at Lobster, then at Gravel, and flew down to the SandWing. She landed in the cave with Gravel.  
‘How did you know my name?’ Silverscales was quick to ask, her head cocking to one side.  
The SandWing giggled, ‘Well, I saw your name under the winglet I’m in!’ she said, ‘And you’ve got scales that shine like silver in the light!’  
So this is Glow. Gravel thought. She was small, but not as small as Starfruit. Silverscales was clearly bigger, but so was Glow when next to Starfruit. Her crest was styled to curve forward in her head, rips litter her crest, making a thin piece of it sag to the side. She looked like a dragonet up to no good.  
‘Glow,’ Silverscales acknowledged, ‘You’re…’  
‘Small, I know,’ Glow chuckled, ‘Blizzard says so all the time! Though I believe your RainWing friend here is smaller. Starfruit?’ Glow then looked at Gravel and Lobster, ‘You two must be Lobster and Gravel! Oh goodie! All my clawmates are here!’  
‘But mine is somewhere else…’ Lobster muttered. ‘What does this Blizzard look like?’  
‘About as big as you, scales as blue as the snowing sky and a belly as white as dirty snow.’ Glow offered helpfully, tilting her head as she thought about Blizzard, who she probably knew beforehand. ‘Might be in his cave near the water.’  
Lobster looked at Silverscales and gently bumped his snout against her cheek, ‘We’ll meet again soon, okay?’  
‘Not like we’re far from each other.’  
After saying farewell, Lobster left to find Blizzard. Starfruit asked if Glow had seen Falcon, or if she knew who he was. But Glow didn’t know what Falcon looked like, neither did Blizzard, she claimed.  
A bit annoyed, but eager to find her clawmate, Starfruit too, left to either find him or claim her own cave.  
And now that the sudden introduction has finally settled down, Gravel took note of the cave.  
Spacious enough to fit four dragons, but used to put three or two instead. There was a single window at the back, where a chest lay for any belongings. In this cave, there was a burrow, a moss patch, and a hammock in a dark corner as beds. The burrow, Glow had claimed. Her own satchel was inside.  
Gravel claimed the moss bed for two reasons. One, he was used to sleeping in damp areas. And two, he knew that Silverscales and her friends slept in hammocks back home, let her have a feeling of home here.  
He didn’t have anything with him, as he and his siblings didn’t see a need to bring what would already be provided. So he simply plopped down onto his new bed. Comfy.


	6. Giant Clawmate

### GIANT CLAWMATE

Starfruit had been flying around the dorms for a while, but every SkyWing she has encountered weren’t Falcon. Where was he?  
It was in the middle of the day though, so maybe he’s just late.  
And since he’s late… That would mean Starfruit gets dibs on choosing a cave!  
Grinning to herself, Starfruit flew off to look for a cave. Suntime was close, so she looked for a cave with a bright amount of sunshine. Maybe Falcon would like a bright cave near the top.  
Starfruit flew up, avoiding the bigger dragonets that flew everywhere, and the brawls that started to fight over a single cave.  
It wasn’t easy, but Starfruit managed to find a nice cave. And inside was a slab of self-heating stone -probably animus touched- and a hammock strung between two different sets of tree roots that grew into the mountain. The hammock was hers.  
She jumped into the canvas hammock, yelping as she was almost thrown off from she dive into it. Starfruit giggled at herself, good thing Falcon wasn’t there to see her almost embarrassing herself.  
Her leaf-woven bag was hung onto one of the thick, curved roots, but her pouch that held her library card stayed on her. Who knows? She might want to borrow a scroll, but she would forget about the one thing needed for it.  
Now that she was waiting for Falcon… what now? He wouldn’t know what she’d look like. Should she head to the library to look for him? What if they pass each other on the way and miss each other?  
Starfruit was interrupted from her thoughts when an IceWing landed in her cave. She looked over and saw that they were white like snow, their spikes had a bit of gray on it.  
‘You’re in my cave,’ the IceWing growled. But Starfruit could see that she still had her belongings with her.  
‘No I’m not.’ Starfruit said, she felt like her voice was a squeak compared to the IceWing’s. She sat up in her hammock, ready to spring out should the IceWing breathe out her frostbreath.  
The IceWing, of course, was not happy. ‘Well, you are now.’ How far was a guardian from the cave? ‘Get out, or I’ll make you.’  
Starfruit flared her frills, slithering out of her hammock as she prepared her venom in her fangs. If she has to spit at the IceWing, she will only do it in self-defense. Besides, she could always cancel out her own venom. But how fast would her venom be against frostbreath?  
The IceWing scoffed at Starfruit’s show of aggression. ‘I gave you a choice,’ she said. She took a deep breath and gathered her frostbreath, in dripped off her snout in trails of mist. Meanwhile, Starfruit prepared to spit, wings spread to flee once the frostbreath comes.  
THUD.  
The IceWing exhaled a plume of icy fog, barely enough to freeze anything.  
Starfruit looked at the dragon that landed behind the IceWing, her frills were flared fully now.  
A SkyWing had landed behind the IceWing. Describing him as huge was an understatement, the word ‘gigantic’ would be more accurate. He was larger than Gravel!  
His scales were as red as cranberries, with limbs dissolving into black by the freckled joints. His horns were like what pyrite looked like in the scrolls, and his eyes were so bright of an orange, that it was almost as if they were on fire.  
The SkyWing snorted out smoke from his nostrils, narrowing his eyes at the IceWing. ‘I believe you are in my cave,’ he growled, voice deep and gruntal. ‘Let’s not attract any guardians, shall we?’  
The IceWing nervously nodded, and flashing a nervous smile, she quickly left the cave and flew off to find her own den.  
Starfruit stared at the SkyWing with great awe in her eyes, as much as fear. She was like a Scavenger next to him, his very looks alone had chased the other dragonet away. Amazing…  
She flinched back in instinct when he turned to her.  
‘Falcon,’ he said, pointing to himself. He pointed at Starfruit and tilted his head, ‘I’m guessing you’re that Starfruit the SeaWing told me about.’  
Starfruit nodded nervously.  
‘Good,’ Falcon looked at the hammock, then at the heated stone slab. ‘This will do,’ he said, flicking his tail towards his new bed.  
Starfruit didn’t know what to say. She was afraid she would squeak or wheeze instead. Does Falcon even like the fact that he’s paired with a literal mouse?  
‘You hungry?’ Falcon asked, turning to Starfruit, ‘I’m going to that hunting room, I don’t care if you follow or not. But unless you want to face another IceWing...?’  
‘Sure, sure, I’m coming.’

It was hard keeping up with Falcon. He was huge, and Starfruit was tiny. Though with his size, many dragons didn’t bump into him, so Starfruit had no worries of being stepped on by accident.  
Falcon was quiet when he and Starfruit left the dorms, looks like he doesn’t talk much in public. Whenever Starfruit tried talking to him, he would answer with grunts and hums. But when she kept quiet after every answer, he seemed to have felt guilty and gave more verbal replies to Starfruit’s stories or questions.  
Though the hunting cave of the school was louder.  
A large cave was used specifically for food. Sheeps, cows, and whatever other animals that other dragons hunt. There was a large pond in a corner for fish, and some fruit trees line one side of the wall.  
Starfruit was surprised to see Lobster already there, talking with an IceWing that matched Glow’s description.  
‘Lobster!’ Starfruit called, she jumped over the border that kept the animals in and trotted up to her friend, Falcon following behind.  
He was hard to miss, so when Lobster and his friend turned to find her, they were surprised to see him behind her.  
‘Starfruit,’ Lobster greeted, eyeing Falcon warily with a fish in his mouth. He turned his attention to Starfruit when she sat next to him. ‘I’m assuming this is our new friend?’ Lobster asked, gesturing to Falcon.  
Falcon sat down, ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘My name is Falcon, you must be Lobster. This IceWing must be Blizzard.’  
‘Oh wow, how did you come to that conclusion? I’m impressed.’ Blizzard was already sarcastic. Interesting.  
But Falcon didn’t seem to appreciate the tease. He kept quiet anyway.  
Lobster swallowed his fish and flashed a friendly smile, ‘Good to meet you, Falcon! I’m Starfruit’s good friend, so I trust that you will protect her?’  
Starfruit was surprised with the formality. On top of it all, Lobster was actually hoping that Falcon would protect Starfruit, when he and Silverscales could not. No threat in his eyes, and no skepticism in his eyes. Just genuine hope.  
This seemed to have registered with Falcon, and he silently nodded. ‘Of course, something so small must stay small and alive.’  
What was that supposed to mean?  
Blizzard speared a fish out of the water, nonchalantly chewing on its head. ‘Well, looks like three of us are missing out on a perfect meal.’  
Falcon drags a goat to him and instantly puts it out of its misery. Starfruit frowned a bit. This was why she didn’t like watching others hunt, the blood.  
‘Missing out indeed,’ Falcon agreed, biting into the goat as if it was a mango. ‘But who cares? It’s their fault they’re not here.’  
‘Who’s fault for what?’  
Starfruit turned happily to see Silverscales hop over the border to the cave, behind her were Glow and Gravel, both looking around with fascinated, or hungry, looks.  
‘We’re just late is all,’ Silverscales was saying, eyes nervously glancing at Falcon and Blizzard, much to the betrayal of her tone of voice. ‘Catching up is a time consuming thing to do.’  
Silverscales, being Silverscales, sat next to Lobster with a fruit in hand. Gravel had grabbed a cow under his arm, mercifully crushing it to quickly end its misery. Glow was the only one to not eat anything, other than Starfruit.  
‘I’m sure it was,’ Lobster said, smiling at the NightWing next to him.  
Starfruit makes a face while the rest went on about their meal, it seemed like none of them picked up the obvious romance. One sided, yet not.  
During the meal, the group started to talk about how they came to the Academy. Falcon flew with his sister Saggistarius, who was in another winglet, from his home in a city located on the Skybrusher Mountain. It was a small mountain compared to Claws of the Clouds.  
Gravel travelled with his unit, he was not the bigwing though. Only he and a sister enrolled into the Academy. Glow and Blizzard apparently travelled together, being childhood friends as their families lived nearby, Blizzard’s parents managed to pull some strings to put them both in the same winglet.  
No doubt they’re trying to spark things between the two dragonets.  
Everyone was surprised to learn that Lobster lived with Silverscales and Starfruit. Though it wasn’t a surprise to the trio that they were. It was odd enough for a SeaWing to live somewhere so far from water.  
When prodded about his reasons for leaving home, Lobster avoided the conversation. He simply told them about his father’s death, his mother’s lack of care towards him when he was younger, and moved on to asking the other’s about them.  
It was a smart move, most dragonets would take the opportunity to talk about themselves. But it seemed that Falcon had caught on, for his eyes never left Lobster.


	7. Falcon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update's a but later than usual, apologies about that.  
> Also, sorry if this chapter seems a bit crap, I kinda rushed it a bit.

### FALCON

Falcon wasn’t sure what he was listening to. His winglet-mates chatting, the background noise, or his own chewing.  
He was aware of the conversation, he could hear the other dragonets loud and clear. But he felt as if he was concentrating on something else… Probably on where his sister was.  
It wasn’t until he noticed Starfruit staring at him did he realize that he had been staring at Lobster.  
Ah, right. He was thinking about how Lobster covered up his side of the story and was trying to see through the facade. He probably noticed Falcon staring though.  
So Falcon averted his gaze to the meat in his talons, it seemed stale in his snout now… but he continued to eat and listened to the IceWing, Blizzard, prattle on about his home in the fourth circle estate that everyone should visit.  
Falcon would never say it, but he absolutely dreaded going to the frigid IceWing Kingdom. Imagine the frost on the uncovered face! Horrible!  
But soon, it got late. The light in the rooms were dimming as the sun sank into the horizon, and only two dragonets stayed back in the room other than the winglet. They would have to go back too.  
But of course, the conversation carried to the large hallways as the entire group walked back to the dorm section of the mountain. It seemed to have caught up to them that Falcon wasn’t the type to reply in sentences, he was all grunts and curt words.  
Since he was late, Falcon had Starfruit lead the way to their cave. And honestly? He thought the cave she picked wasn’t half bad. The self-heating stone was warm to the touch, and Falcon immediately grew comfortable on it.  
As much as he would love to roll his scales over it, he was careful to keep Starfruit’s presence in mind.

Falcon was having a peaceful sleep, probably dreaming about the rams on the empty fields on the mountains that he was afraid of when he was a hatchling. But he was woken up just as his father opened his mouth to speak.  
Annoyed, Falcon grumbled as he opened his eyes. He turned his head and saw Starfruit’s tiny yellow orbs within her head. What did she want?  
‘H-hi, Falcon…’ she stammered, looking quite embarrassed in the soft lights of the torches lit outside by the adults. She fiddled with her claws as she spoke, he scales turning from her usual yellows and golds into pale green and white, and possibly a hint of blue.  
‘I- I know i-it’s late… but…’ Starfruit looked up at Falcon, though she didn’t raise her head. ‘C-can I sleep with you? It’s c-cold i-in my hammock… a-and I had a nightmare th-that involved t-trees…’  
Falcon considered telling Starfruit to ‘bug off’ and keep the stone to himself. But he saw the pure innocent fear in Starfruit’s eyes, and she was so small…  
With a grunt, Falcon lifted a wing as a silent invitation. He heard a soft noise of joy, and then he watched as Starfruit nested in the curls of his tail. She bid him goodnight and closed her eyes, her colours naturally changing to blend with the environment.  
Was this a defense mechanism?  
Falcon softly returned the gesture, he draped his wing over his tail like a tent, and watched Starfruit as the last of the scales disappeared. With a warm feeling in his heart, Falcon closed his eyes and tucked his head under his wing to sleep.

Again, he woke up to Starfruit shaking him.  
‘Wakey wakey, Mr.Falcon!’ Starfruit squawked, she singsong voice making Falcon’s ears twitch. ‘It’s time for breakfast, there’s no time to sleep!’  
With a groan, Falcon opened his eyes, looking at an upside down Starfruit. Or rather, looking at her while he was upside down.  
‘Wh...aaaaaa...t?’ Falcon grumbled, blinking his tired eyes. He knew it was breakfast time, but he had to ask, he still wanted to sleep in. He finally turned onto his stomach and stretched. ‘How did you not get crushed?’  
‘You moved as soon as I got off. It was like you didn’t move because you were afraid of crushing me!’  
Falcon was surprised by Starfruit’s enthusiasm. He wished he could conjure up this amount of energy in the morning.  
This made him think that Starfruit was like a chihuahua, tiny dogs that had too much energy in them when they were made by the AllWing. Was that what Starfruit was? A dragonet version of a chihuahua?  
‘Right… Of course,’ Falcon said. He shook off the last bouts of sleep and yawned quite loudly, while Starfruit was dragging his pouch to him. Unlike most, his pouch was on a chain instead of a leather strap.  
With a curt thank, Falcon fastened his pouch on and dug through it. Inside, along with his library card, was a folded piece of parchment. Much easier to fold them than roll them for small spaces. Falcon unfolded it to look at his timetable.  
Bonding Time was the first class. Which would mean everyone would be in The Great Hall to bond with each other as a winglet. Great.  
Falcon and Starfruit left their cave to catch a sheep or two, or maybe some fruits for breakfast. Most were still waking up, so it was a good thing that Starfruit woke early.  
What an early bird. Falcon thought, glancing at the dragonet flying under his wing for cover. And a small one.  
When the pair got to The Prey Center, they saw that Gravel was there already. But no Silverscales or Glow. Odd.  
‘Gravel?’ Starfruit called, trotting out from under Falcon’s wing towards the MudWing, which he didn’t like. He just stared at Gravel as Starfruit stood in front of him.  
‘What are you doing here alone?’ Starfruit asked. In front of her, Gravel was enjoying his meal of cow when the other two entered, he looked down at Starfruit with care so that he didn’t accidentally drop cow blood or flesh on her.  
‘Couldn’t sleep,’ Gravel answered through a full snout, ‘Don’t worry, I left a note for the other two so they won’t worry.’  
Falcon ignored the animals and instead took a fruit, deciding that it looked more appealing at that time. And he was surprised that mangoes were so sweet… It was nice.  
Starfruit picked up a bunch of grapes from the wall, she ate them one by one. ‘Did you have a nightmare?’ Starfruit asked, ‘I had one, but Falcon let me sleep with him to feel better. You could try it too.’  
Both Falcon and Gravel nearly choked on their meal, but the former was more composed than the latter.  
‘I think I’m good, th-thanks,’ Gravel said, waving a claw as if being dismissive. Though Falcon could’ve sworn that Gravel was blushing… do dragons blush?  
Soon, more dragonets filed into the room, some ate in the cave, while others took their meal to somewhere else. And with the others, came the rest of the winglet. Silverscales and Glow were quick to spot Gravel, Lobster and Blizzard were talking, looking like what his sister described haughty dragons to be.  
‘Gravel! You shouldn’t leave like that!’ was what Silverscales said once she was near Gravel, worry creased her snout and her weird tail was twitching from agitation. She was trying her darndest to not paw the ground.  
‘I know, I’m sorry,’ Gravel apologized, scratching the back of his head with his clean talons. He guiltily glanced around, ‘But I feel much better if I eat, and I could sleep.’  
Glow, who was between the two, sighed. ‘It’s alright,’ she said, ‘Just wake us up or something, we don’t want to miss out on the early worms.’ Glow smiled at the last bit, and Falcon could see where her name came from.  
Falcon stopped listening before Lobster and Blizzard came to join them. For whatever reason, he kept thinking about what Starfruit said… ‘You could try it too.’  
Three moons, why did it bother him so much? He shouldn’t be thinking about it at all! And yet he was… Why though?  
‘Falcon?’  
Snapping out of his thoughts, Falcon looked at his winglet, almost everyone was staring at him. ‘Yeah…?’ Falcon murmured, a bit scared and confused. He looked at his talons when Starfruit pointed, his mango was now mush.  
Oops. Falcon ducked his claws into the pool nearby, shuddering when fish came to feast on the fruit and nibbled at his scales. He waved the others off and assured them that he was fine, nothing was wrong at all.  
An adult, a grumpy looking SkyWing, then entered the cave and told the dragonets to get to class. The first class for everyone was Bonding Time.


	8. Blizzard

### BLIZZARD

Blizzard laughed, he was told that it was loud but nice to hear. And until now, he didn’t believe Glow when she said it. Actually, he still doesn't believe it.  
Lobster was grinning broadly, glad that his friends were all laughing at his joke. No doubt that it was told before, but it only sounded funnier the more Blizzard thought about it.  
Around the Great Hall, some winglets glanced their way. Falcon was the first to go quiet, his soft chuckles rapidly disappearing when he noticed the stares. And following him, the rest of the winglet quietened their laughter.  
Blizzard inhaled sharply and wiped away a tear in his eye, ‘Oh moons, I can’t believe you thought of that yourself,’ he giggled. He sighed to calm himself down. ‘You’re like some sort of joke magician.’  
A loud, sudden laugh burst out of Silverscales, as if what Blizzard said was even funnier.  
Lobster stared at her, his smile small but genuine.  
Staring at him, Blizzard tilted his head. What a curious thing to see love so plainly in one’s eyes. No others but Starfruit seemed to notice, but she probably already knew.  
Blizzard knew his parents wanted the same thing for him and Glow, his family and hers were friends since the War of SandWing Succession, and it seemed like they thought they found an opportunity to bring the families closer.  
Unfortunately, Glow is as close as a twin sister to Blizzard. Which is to say, very close.  
Silverscales eventually calmed herself, holding her snout shut as she heaved with her last bouts of laughter. She waved Lobster’s claw away when he reached out to her, suddenly concerned.  
‘Sorry, sorry,’ she said, though she had nothing to apologize about. ‘Sorry.’  
The gong at the end of the hall was banged once.  
It wasn’t loud enough to rattle teeth, but Blizzard felt his scales stand a little from the vibration that the gong sent throughout The Great Hall. Did the others feel it?  
The same grumpy SkyWing that called the dragonets from the hall announced for everyone to go to their first classes on their timetable.  
Blizzard looked at his timetable again, History. Same with Gravel.

The cave for the History classroom was interesting, it was located near the entrance of the school, and had a big window at the back of the classroom with a view of the desert and the sea.  
There was a shelf that seemed to be in progress of being stuffed with old maps. The most recent map was skillfully painted onto the wall the shelf was carved into, the paint was a bit faded, but still visible.  
Blizzard and Gravel took the stone desks nearest to the doorway, uninterested in choosing a specific spot like some of the dragonets were intent on.  
In front, a brush and an inkwell were neatly placed onto the teacher’s pedestal, with a stone slab looming on the wall behind. If it were not for the wood frame, Blizzard wouldn’t have noticed it.  
‘Who do you think will be our teacher?’ Gravel’s large claws rested on top on his desk, he looked around the classroom with what Blizzard assumed was innocent curiosity.  
But it was very hard to not be curious, even the giant Falcon must feel it too.  
‘Maybe a NightWing,’ Blizzard said, eyeing the scrolls prepared for the students in their desk drawers, he then fiddled with the quill and dipped it into an inkwell that was provided with the quill. ‘They’re very scholar-like, are they not?’  
‘Maybe,’ Gravel agreed, he tapped his chin with a talon, ‘But Silverscales doesn’t look very scholar-like.’  
A grunt of agreement from Blizzard. He raised his snout when the teacher entered, he was a little surprised to see a green-blue SeaWing enter the class.  
The SeaWing looked a little old, but his eyes shone with the excitement of youthful dragons. He introduced himself as Webs, and Blizzard immediately recognized him as the dragon who was said to have raised the Dragonets of Destiny in the stories that Blizzard’s father read to him as a hatchling.  
Who knew that Webs would be teaching History here.  
Webs wasted no time dilly dallying, he told the dragonets to take notes on what he was saying, and mentioned that they will have a pop quiz every week.  
Everyone groaned in futile protest.  
Blizzard didn’t complain, he knew there were teachers back at the IceWing Academy that had worse ways of making sure their students remembered something.  
Gravel complained softly to himself, but he did as Webs instructed.  
And honestly, Blizzard didn’t find the class half bad. As Webs spoke, he made sure to face the class, only turning away to use the brush and write on the stone board or to wipe the ink away with a wet cloth.  
Blizzard glanced over at Gravel halfway through the class, and he saw that Gravel had doodles among his notes. The Blizzard looked at his own notes, and then wondered if doodling would make his notes more interesting and easier to read.  
He didn’t realize he was daydreaming until Webs called him, using the words ‘The IceWing with the dirty underbelly!’  
It wasn’t that his underbelly was dirty, Blizzard sighed and continued taking notes, he just had a greyish kind of white is all.

Class ended around an hour later, and Blizzard split up with Gravel to find the Chemistry Class. He wondered if he’ll be able to make something explode… he probably would but shouldn’t.  
The class ended up being quite deep into the school, probably for safety reasons. Blizzard looked around, but saw none of his friends.  
In the cave used for the class, a SandWing teacher whose name didn’t reach Blizzard’s ears was already setting up an example of vials filled with names that were too long for Blizzard to spell correctly. And by the looks of it, no one could either.  
The class disinterested Blizzard, despite his vigorous notes about the subject, he had no interest in what is made of carbon and hydrogen and oxygen or any other components that The SandWing prattled on about.  
Maybe his name was Rattlesnake, because his voice was still rattling in Blizzard’s head when class was over and he left to join Lobster in Music Class.  
He hoped no one would play the maracas.

‘You’re kidding,’ Lobster lingered around the wind instruments, wondering which ones were worth his time. He turned away to politely regard Blizzard, ‘Did he stop to catch a breath at least?’  
Blizzard sighed and shook his head, idly drumming the bongos under his talons. ‘It was like he had lungs the size of that cello over there,’ he said, pointing to the large cello in a corner that no one seemed encouraged to play.  
The RainWing teacher standing next to it seemed indifferent to the noise and happily instructed any students who asked for help.  
‘That’s very big,’ Lobster noted, eyeing the cello as if he considered playing it. He chose a flute in the end. ‘Think a flute and some bongos would go well together?’ Lobster asked, holding the flute to his lips once he sat next to Blizzard and his bongos.  
When Blizzard first met Glow, he was 2 years old and had no skill in any musical instruments yet. But Glow’s family was one that loved tradition, and Glow was able to play the drums since she was 1 and a half years old.  
Thanks to her, Blizzard was pretty good with the bongos. He rapped the top of it and eyed a dragonet leaving the classroom. ‘Time to find out.’  
Three moons it was horrible. Not only because the two instruments didn’t naturally mix well, but because Lobster sucked at playing the flute, and Blizzard couldn’t play the bongos properly because he was laughing.  
But despite that, both dragonets played until they were tired, trying different ways to mix the two tunes on their own despite the teacher offering help. It was fun.  
Blizzard couldn’t stop grinning, his laugh was loud and true, not to mention contagious. Whenever he laughed and clumsily played the drums, Lobster would laugh along and accidentally blow a high note, or the tunes would be stuttered as Lobster blew his laugh into the flute.  
Their cheeks had hurt even after they left class.


	9. Glow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya, I think you guys may have noticed, but I have changed my schedule from weekly to twice every month.  
> This will obviously decrease the speed of this story, but it would give me time to draw the thumbnails, stock up on chapters, and so on.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy the story nonetheless!

### GLOW

A week has passed since the first day of school.  
Glow sat in her cave in the dormitory, reading a scroll that talked about Darkstalker’s legend, updated by Moonswatcher and her friends who were the alumnis of Jade Mountain Academy.  
It was a doozy to read.  
She was saved from the trouble when Silverscales flew in, and she looked up from the scroll to regard the odd NightWing.  
‘What’s that?’ Silverscales immediately asked, eyeing the thick scroll and Glow’s expression, which must’ve looked horrible because Silverscales’ scales above her eyes furrowed.  
Glow let the scroll roll up, being lazy and not remembering where she had read until. ‘The Legends of Darkstalker, Remastered.’ Glow sighed, ‘I got bored and decided to use my student card, but I think I should've started smaller.’  
Silverscales sat next to Glow, she picked up the scroll and helped to properly roll it up. ‘When Lobster and I first met, I had a bad habit of not sleeping,’ she said, gingerly holding the scroll. ‘I would be so energetic and would stay up all night bothering him or Starfruit. Star slept like a newly hatched dragonet, so it was mostly Lobster whom I annoyed.’  
The scroll was handed to Glow, and Glow accepted it to put it away. She’ll have to remember to return it later.  
‘I suppose Lobster got tired of it, because one night, he asked me to go to my room and lie in my hammock.’ Silverscales smiled, as if recalling the memory in her head, ‘He took out a scroll and read to me that night, it was a story about a SeaWing who was the best swimmer in all of Pyrrhia. One day, he got cocky and challenged a SkyWing to swim with him.  
‘The SkyWing was a simple dragon who enjoyed flying with his friends, and didn’t want any part of the race. But the SeaWing and his friends mocked the SkyWing and called him a coward, the SkyWing knew he was not one, so he accepted the challenge. On the day of the contest, while the SeaWing swam deep underwater to show off his eyesight, the SkyWing remained on the surface. The SkyWing used his wings to propel him forward, swimming as if he was flying, but with his body in the water and his wings rowing instead of flapping.’  
Silverscales took a moment to catch her breath, then she continued, ‘Underwater, the SeaWing encountered a Killer Whale, and it was hungry. The SeaWing tried to call for help, but his Aquatic couldn’t be seen by anyone other than the whale.  
‘The SkyWing won, but the SeaWing never emerged. When his friends and other SeaWings went to look for him, they only found his blood and his head sinking down. He was not smiling cockily then.’  
‘That was… very dark for a first bedtime story,’ Glow said, leaning away slightly from Silverscales now with the sheer look of horror.  
The NightWing chuckled, ‘It was,’ she agreed with a proud smile, ‘but, point is: Some of us are more of the listening type than the reading type. NightWings may be all smart and fancy with our scrolls sometimes, but then there’s me, who listened to every story in the Rainforest before bed. So don’t feel bad for not being able to concentrate on reading.’  
Glow nodded slowly, she wondered if she knew what Silverscales actually said to her.  
‘What are you girls up to?’ Gravel asked as he flew in, he carried some fruits that Glow had asked for earlier in one arm, they tumbled to the ground when he landed.  
‘Silver told me a story,’ Glow said, making sure her tone indicated that it was not pleasant at all. Next to her, Silverscales smiled smugly.  
Gravel chuckled and carefully put the fruit in a pile nearby, ‘I bet it was one of those dragonet stories parents tell their kids,’ he guessed, and he guessed correctly. ‘Heh, glad I wasn’t here to hear it, got scared of a lot of things when my bigwing told me about them.’  
‘Like what? The Lochness MudWing?’ Glow asked, meaning to tease. But she was surprised when Gravel agreed that indeed, he had been afraid of the Lochness MudWing story.  
‘Oh!’ Silverscales suddenly piped in, claws clasped together in excitement, ‘Back in the Rainforest, we used to have a couple of myths.’  
Gravel raised an eyebrow as he took a bite out of his fruit, it was kinda hard to imagine the large Gravel trembling in fear as a slightly bigger dragonet told him and other MudWings a story over the campfire.  
‘Tell me more.’  
Silverscales grinned, pleased with herself already.  
‘One of the most popular myths was called Bigtalons. They said it was a RainWing who was as big as a hut, it hid in the deeper regions of the Rainforest, lurking and eating whatever it liked. Yes, including dragons.  
Dragons used to hunt it, trying to snag a piece of its colour changing scale. Those who collect so-called cryptic creatures used to promise an abundance of treasure to any who could even snag such a thing! But it only appears when it wants to eat you.’  
Glow raised a claw and waved it in the air, ‘Wait wait wait,’ she interrupted, she was as skeptical as a dragonet could be while munching on strawberries. ‘Did Lobster tell you this as a bedtime story?’  
Silverscales nodded.  
Glow let her continue and ate some blueberries.  
‘Eventually, hunters stopped looking. Some because they stopped believing, some because they got scared. Those who stopped from fear claimed that they had indeed seen Bigtalons. They said it was invisible the entire time they tried to hunt it, you could follow its scent, it’s hideously gigantic clawprints, but you could never see nor hear it. Not until it was too late.  
When it appears, it was said to have dark orange scales, sometimes grey. It had fangs that grew so long, they stuck out of its top jaw. It was so big that it crushed anything it stepped on in an instant, dragon bones included. Looking into its eyes meant a guaranteed death.’  
Gravel asked if Silverscales could tell them the second myth before they slept.  
Silverscales did. Glow had a dream about the Goathead that night.

First month of school, and Glow had already heard of lots of myths and legends from her friends, and even told some herself. She didn’t know all of them, but she knew a lot of them.  
It was something useless but entertaining to have, the knowledge of such mysterious, vague, dark stories. Glow wondered if she could make songs out of them as she drummed away on a set of bongos.

Second month of school, and a dragonet that was thought to have been skipping class was found in the old History classroom, blood soaking through burnt maps with their face as shocked as the SeaWing who got too cocky.  
Behind them, the wall was painted with blood.  
**DIDN’T SAVE THIS ONE, DRAGONETS OF DESTINY**


	10. Stories of Old

### STORIES OF OLD

Second week of the second month, and a second dragonet has gone missing.  
Dead? No one knows.  
Silverscales anxiously peeked out of her sleeping cave, the outside was empty, mostly. Dragonets still flew about, but only in twos or threes, orders from the teachers themselves.  
After Glow had reported the finding of the dead dragonet in the old History cave, the Dragonets of Destiny, save for Queen Glory, had rushed to the scene and told everyone to stay where they were.  
And now, while classes were still going on, RainWing guards were sent to scout and guard the academy. Teachers that didn’t have classes checked everywhere to make sure no one was hiding or skipping class.  
Whoever had killed the poor dragonet and used their blood to write a message to the Dragonets of Destiny, no one knew. The safest option was to keep everyone from going out when unnecessary.  
‘I’m running out of stories,’ Glow said, sitting far back in the sleeping cave which Silverscales shared with Glow and Gravel. The SandWing looked at Silverscales, ‘Mind helping out here?’  
Sighing softly, Silverscales retreated back into the sleeping cave and sat next to Lobster. Ever since the incident, entire winglets had to share a single cave.  
To avoid ambushes or kidnappings, the teachers said.  
And the biggest sleeping cave was Starfruit and Falcon’s.  
‘Well, I’ve told most of mine already,’ Silverscales said, she tapped her snout in thought, ‘I don’t think I have much else that isn’t something that Lobster here told me.’  
Falcon, the quiet one of the bunch, simply grunted. ‘Are you interested in the story of The Mountain-back Dragon? It’s a story that SkyWings tell their children to get them brave enough to learn flying.’  
The winglet had not heard of this story before.  
‘Shall I enlighten you then?’  
Surprised by his offer, the winglet agreed to listen to the story.  
At first, Falcon seemed nervous, which was understandable, he was always replying with grunts or growls and one or two words. This will be the first time that he will talk in full sentences, proper ones.  
‘A long time ago, back when The Scorching had ended only a few years ago, there was a SkyWing that was named Aither by the author. Aither was a cowardly SkyWing, he didn’t dare to fly, for he feared the stalagmites that were below his home.  
While other SkyWings, including his friends, were soaring above the clouds at the age of 3, he stayed in his cave under the safety of his mother’s wing. He did almost attempt flight one or two times everyday, but his cowardice always got the best of him, and he would once again retreat into his cave.  
His father was angry at him. How could he be so afraid of flying? He was a SkyWing! A tribe that took pride in their huge wings, their grace in the skies, their talent among the clouds.’  
Falcon tilted his head, it seemed like he too, was recalling a memory from this story. Silverscales knew, because it was a habit of hers too.  
‘Ashamed, Aither left his home.’ Falcon continued, ‘He lived in a cavern far below the mountains, and there he laid until the AllWing made nature take its course. Aither was buried under the mountain for years to come. When Aither watched his friends fly past the mountain he became, he grew resentful, and thus cursed all SkyWing dragonets to become mountains if they never fly.’  
Silverscales heard Glow make a noise, ‘Why do all these dragonet stories contain some sort of death or anger?’ Glow asked, claw on her snout. ‘When I get my hands on a quill and scroll, I’m going to write a story without death or anger.’  
Silverscales tilted her head, smiling a bit. ‘Can I be a character in it?’ she asked.  
‘Oh absolutely! I’ll write about a prince and a princess! You could be the princess, but then I’d need a prince.’  
Starfruit grinned when she heard about the prince, and Silverscales could only sigh and feel her ears and cheeks go hot as the tiny RainWing said, ‘What about Lobster?’  
As expected, Silverscales felt herself blush, and she could feel Lobster shift and move left and right next to her as he too, became flustered.  
Across the room, Gravel tilted his head, probably confused.  
Glow hummed in thought, eyes narrowed at Lobster. She smiled and nodded as if to agree with Starfruit, ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘You seem like a princely dragonet!’  
Suddenly, Blizzard laughed. ‘Are you guys blushing?!’ Blizzard exclaimed, looking so oblivious in Silverscales’s eyes with his big toothy grin and his loud laughter that was surprisingly nice to listen to.  
Though, not as nice as Lobster’s.  
‘I think they are,’ Falcon chimed in, a small smile appearing on his snout as he tried to discreetly glance at Gravel. He wasn’t really succeeding in Silverscales’s eyes.  
As she tried to stop her face from feeling hot, Lobster cleared his throat to cut in. ‘So, it’s getting late,’ he said, abruptly changing the subject. ‘We really should get to sorting out our sleeping spots.’  
Glow pulled out a blanket of moss, flattened from Gravel lying on it. ‘I brought this,’ she said, her expression looked as if it was saying that the moss won’t be very helpful.  
Blizzard flared a wing of his by a little to reveal three rolled up bundles under his wing. ‘My parents insisted I take two of these fur rugs, they’re so big that they were beds for my cousins and I when we were younger.’ Blizzard pushed the two rugs out, then showed the other to be a hammock. ‘I also brought a hammock from the old sleeping cave.  
Silverscales left it to Lobster to help decide who will sleep where and on what. It was honestly fascinating and breathtaking for her to watch as he fell into a position of leadership with ease, and nobody objected. It was as if they too, were mesmerized by Lobster’s leadership.  
In the end, Starfruit would sleep with Falcon on his heating stone, since she could quite literally sleep on him if she chose to. Blizzard and Glow had a fur rug, Gravel would have the moss blanket, and Lobster and Silverscales would take the other fur rug. The hammocks were used to store everyone’s belongings.  
As Silverscales dragged her fur rug to the hammocks, she saw Gravel sheepishly asking Falcon something she couldn’t hear. But judging by Gravel’s reaction to Falcon’s reply, the latter must have said yes.  
‘Hey.’  
Silverscales turned to Lobster as he sat on the rug, he patted the empty space and she sat next to him, wings loose and brushing.  
‘Are you… scared,’ Lobster asked softly, so that the others won’t hear him, ‘of what’s going on?’  
‘If I’m being honest… Yeah. I am.’  
‘Yeah, me too.’  
‘What if one of us is next?’ Silverscales turned to Lobster, suddenly fearful and small-looking when she wrapped her wings around her front. ‘It’s only been a little over a month, but I like our winglet.’  
Both Silverscales and Lobster looked at the environment of the sleeping cave. Little Starfruit and Blizzard were chatting, and Glow seemed to be writing her story on an empty scroll while Falcon and Gravel awkwardly shared the heating stone.  
Lobster sighed, ‘I get what you mean,’ he said softly, turning back to focus his gaze on Silverscales. ‘I honestly didn’t think we’d be this lucky to be placed in this winglet.’  
Silvercales nodded in agreement, ‘We certainly are.’ A pause. ‘Are you ever going to tell them?’  
This time, it was Lobster’s turn to stay silent. ‘Maybe not now.’  
‘Then when?’  
‘Maybe never.’


	11. Bloody Walls

### BLOODY WALLS

Starfruit nervously glanced behind her, hiding under Blizzard’s wing. There was no one following, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious.  
Everyone was advised to stay in groups of at least 2, but Starfruit’s winglet have taken it as far as going everywhere together unless they were going to classes.  
In the meanwhile, another message of blood had appeared, and the second dragonet’s corpse was found underneath it. But still, the other students seemed to feel safe just by staying in pairs.  
But Starfruit was still paranoid and scared, and she knew her scales told it.  
‘Hey.’  
Starfruit looked up at her IceWing friend.  
‘It’s alright, my frostbreath and I will keep you safe.’ Blizzard smiled to reassure Starfruit, and it worked a little bit, with his serrated claws and his spiky tail and his frostbreath.  
But afraid that she would sound scared, Starfruit only smiled back and nodded.  
The two entered the Art Cave, and Starfruit glanced at the walls to make sure there were no messages written in blood. Thankfully, there were none.

Art Class went by with clay coated talons and no blood.  
Starfruit stuck with Blizzard until they met up with Gravel, and together, they accompanied little Starfruit to her Science Class before they head off to History Class.  
Now alone, Starfruit sat at the very front of the class, her logic telling her that she was least likely to get caught if the teacher could see her.  
Although, she started to doubt it as the teacher vibrated as he spoke and scribbled messy notes on the board behind him. Actually, she doubted that he would even notice a missing student at all. But hopefully that wasn’t the case.  
As Starfruit tried her best to keep up with the lesson, she also started to think about her friends. Were they doing alright? What were they doing in their classes? Starfruit hoped they were safe.  
Of course they would be safe, why wouldn’t they be?

‘Wait, guys…’  
The entire winglet stopped and looked at Starfruit, confused. They were on their way back to the dorms after classes, and were halfway there already.  
Sheepish, Starfruit glanced around, then said in a low voice; ‘I… I have to go.’  
‘Three moons,’ Falcon sighed, but he didn’t protest when the entire winglet changed course to head for the nearest bathroom.  
Since it was a room with one stall and a small waterfall for washing talons, the winglet had to wait outside. Starfruit had to reassure Silverscales and Lobster that she would be quick about three times before Falcon lightly shoved her into the cave so there would be no more delay.  
And Starfruit was quick.  
As she washed her talons in the small waterfall, she suddenly heard a thump. Starfruit whipped her head around, frills flared and scales pale with fear. He ears twitched as she looked around the small cave. Was she hearing things?  
A scratching noise came next.  
Starfruit’s frills opened to their fullest as she turned to the nearest wall, where the noise came from. Her eyes widened as a simple word was carved into the wall.  
YOU  
Starfruit stiffened. Quickly, she turned away and quickly made a beeline for the tunnel. She screamed as a pair of claws appeared out of thin air and grabbed her.


	12. The Sapphire Winglet

### THE SAPPHIRE WINGLET

At the sudden sound of Starfruit’s scream, the Winglet immediately jumped into action.  
Gravel rammed his armored head through the wooden door, throwing it off its hinges and charging into the room. He didn’t see what he collided with, but whatever was hit dropped the little RainWing and roared with both anger and surprise.  
As Gravel stepped back, teeth bared, a figure appeared out of thin air.  
A large MudWing with blood crysting her scales and wearing cuffs that have lost their chains came into view. And Gravel froze, his eyes making contact with the murderer’s own.  
‘GRAVEL!’  
Blizzard leapt in between the bloody dragon and his MudWing friend, he bits down on one of the dragon’s claws, but he couldn’t avoid the other claw arcing down at his face.  
Snapping out of his trance, Gravel roared at the dragon and lunged to grab her face. But she leapt back and tossed Blizzard to one side, as if he weighed no heavier than a fur rug.  
Gravel wrestled with the murderer, adrenaline drowning out Glow’s scream and Lobster’s shout. Gravel’s teeth and fangs were bared to their fullest, but the murderer only seemed annoyed at him.  
Something slammed into the murderer’s side, and Gravel went tumbling with her as she lost balance and rolled off to a side. Gravel was pulled away, and he saw Falcon standing in front of him, fire billowing out of his snout at the MudWing.  
Quickly, Gravel rolled to a side and got up, joining Falcon and adding his fire to the torrent.  
The murderer shrieked and screamed loud enough to rattle Gravel’s ribs. But much to his surprise, she actually got up and fled, the burnt side smoking and ugly.  
She disappeared as soon as she stepped into the tunnel, and Falcon followed Lobster out to chase after her.  
Now that the fight was over, Gravel felt his ears ring and his chest heaving as he recovered from the shock. As the adrenaline faded, Gravel turned to look for the rest of his friends.  
He gasped. Blizzard lied on his side, face bleeding from the murderer’s claws. Silverscales and Glow were trying to stop the bleeding, and Starfruit was trying her best to distract Blizzard from the pain by jambering on and on about something Gravel couldn’t hear.  
Gravel quickly rushed to Blizzard’s side, eyes wide when he saw how deep the cut was. Four claw marking across the IceWing’s cheek to his snout, the attack had barely missed his eye.  
‘Oh moons, Blizzard, I’m so sorry!’ Gravel said, he quickly took out a cloth he had in his satchel and soaked it in the waterfall nearby, he gingerly held Blizzard’s head and tried to clean the wound.  
Glow yelped when Blizzard jerked and held down his tail. ‘Blizzard, it’s okay, it’s okay.’  
As Gravel cleaned the wound, Glow and Silverscales held him down, and Starfruit sat in front of him, shaking and pale green. It was suddenly very, very quiet.  
Silverscales looked up when footsteps approached, and Gravel did too when a claw rested on his shoulder. He looked at Clay with slightly wide and fearful eyes.  
‘It’s okay now,’ Clay said, ‘we’ll take it from here.’  
Gravel stood and stepped back from Blizzard as Clay set down a satchel and worked on patching Blizzard up. Gravel turned to see Princess Tsunami enter, with Lobster and Falcon following behind.  
‘Lobster!’ Silverscales ran up to Lobster and hugged him, he didn’t hesitate to hug back.  
‘The dragon…’  
‘Gone. The smoke trails didn’t last long, and we couldn’t pick up a scent.’  
Falcon and Gravel made eye contact, then the former turned to Blizzard, he grunted and gestured to the IceWing with his snout.  
Gravel looked at the cloth, soaked through by blue blood, feeling quite guilty for causing Blizzard’s wound just by getting distracted. When he looked up again, Falcon was right in front of him, eyes surprisingly soft.  
‘Hey,’ Falcon said, his voice as soft as his gaze, ‘It’s not your fault, okay? I can only imagine how it feels to see a member of your tribe be responsible for those deaths, but it’s not your fault that Blizzard chose to protect you.’  
The two touched foreheads, and Gravel felt his chest heaving and a sob caught in his throat. His vision became blurry with tears. ‘She is not of my tribe,’ Gravel growled, soft but dangerous, ‘She’s a monster. Starfruit… she almost took her…’  
Falcon grunted, as if he understood. ‘She’ll pay, Gravel. I promise.’  
Both of them looked up when Princess Tsunami cleared her throat.  
She held Starfruit in one arm, poor RainWing was still white and pale green with fear, frills flared and shaking.  
‘Let’s get you all back to your sleeping cave.’

Blizzard was fast asleep, lying on his uninjured side so that he won’t irritate his wound, which was bandaged so tightly that Blizzard would only be able to speak through gritted teeth. Glow was watching over him.  
Starfruit on the other talon, was hiding under Silverscales and Lobster’s wings, quiet ever since the ambush.  
Sighing softly, Gravel rested his head on the moss blanket. While it would usually be nice and soft, he found no comfort in it, but only in Falcon’s presence.  
After Clay and Princess Tsunami had guided the winglet back to their sleeping cave, they had told the winglet to not leave their sleeping cave until dawn, and to set a noise trap if they could.  
Falcon sniffed at the ‘trap’ he and Gravel had set, it wasn’t the best, but hopefully it works.  
A simple tripwire mechanic that would pour out the pottery that the winglet had made in the last month, if someone stood on or tripped the wire, the hammock above would collapse and rain fragile vases and bowls on the said dragon.  
It would wake everyone up and knock out the dragon. Hopefully.  
‘I really hope this will be unnecessary.’ Gravel said, looking at the hammock above Falcon. ‘Everything is bad enough as it is.’  
‘I agree,’ Falcon carefully stepped over the wire and joined Gravel, he sighed tiredly as he settled on his heated stone, leaning over a bit toward Gravel. ‘I worked hard on the pottery, I’ll be mad if they shatter.’  
Gravel gave Falcon a look, ‘Huh,’ he breathed, ‘I thought you didn’t like what you made during those lessons.’  
‘Well…’ Falcon looked away, talons tapping against each other. Gravel could’ve sworn that he was blushing, and he was eager to see.  
‘Falcon, is there something you’re not telling me?’ Gravel asked, leaning over to his large SkyWing friend as the latter leaned away out of embarrassment.  
After a long moment of what Gravel assumed was contemplation, Falcon sighed and gave in. He made sure no one else was listening to him and Gravel, then leaned in close for a whisper.  
‘I actually like my “ugly” bowls.’ Falcon admitted, cheeks pinkish as he spoke. ‘And I kinda want to paint them.’  
Gravel faked a gasp, unknowingly drawing the attention of those who were still awake. ‘Falcon! You mean to tell me that underneath that tough, angry face of yours is a heart that wants to do “soft” things like painting?’  
‘SHH SHH SSSHHH!’ Falcon clasped Gravel’s snout shut, which honestly only made Gravel want to laugh. ‘You’re so loud,’ Falcon grumbled, but he let go of Gravel’s snout and sighed.  
‘Look, I’m only telling you because you won’t judge.’ Falcon said, ‘I admit, I’m actually a softie, or so you say. I like small, cute things, I like art, I even play the violin. But… I didn’t have good peers back in the school I went to before Jade Mountain, so I stopped.’  
Gravel no longer felt like laughing, he felt bad for Falcon. His siblings never made fun of him for what he liked, nor did any other MudWing. He didn’t know how Falcon felt about revealing his true self, but he was honestly flattered that Falcon decided to tell him.  
‘Well, I think it’s endearing.’  
Falcon looked at Gravel with surprise written all over his face, but he was also quick to cover it up with a calm face. ‘Cool,’ he said, as if trying to be dismissive. ‘Uhm… thank you.’  
It was still endearing. To Gravel anyway.  
‘What are you guys talking about?’ Blizzard asked, now somewhat awake, and groggily looking at Gravel at Falcon.  
Gravel turned to Falcon, wondering what to say. But Falcon spoke for him.  
‘Gravel told me about the time he sat on his brother, thinking he was a log.’  
‘DID NOT!’  
The entire winglet laughed as Gravel scrambled to clasp Falcon’s snout shut, but failed miserably due to the SkyWing being so big and having such a long neck.  
But there was something nice about hearing Blizzard being able to laugh, and to hear that Starfruit was laughing despite her most probably traumatic experience. Even Falcon dropped his chuckling act and was laughing at Gravel’s feeble attempts to shut him up.  
Gravel hoped that he could hear it more tomorrow.


	13. Noises

### NOISES

Lobster awoke that night by the sound of wings flapping. Probably a bird, but better safe than sorry.  
Being careful of Silverscales, Lobster slowly and quietly got up. He shook off any fear that lingered on him and headed for the doorway, making sure he didn’t wake any of his clawmates, or step on them.  
Stepping over the tripwire trap that had been set up since last week, Lobster peeked out of the sleeping cave.  
Dark and quiet, just like any other night. Everyone was asleep, and Lobster could count the torches that lit up the dormitory enough to see the walls.  
Lobster sighed, he was probably overthinking about it again. No third dragonet has gone missing yet, and that worried Lobster. Was there a pattern to the killings? Or was the murderer too afraid to show herself after the ‘fight’ last week?  
Might just be that there was a pattern.  
But then Lobster heard it again, the flapping of wings. Now there was definitely someone there. But Lobster couldn’t see anyone, even with his tribe’s night-vision, he couldn’t see a thing.  
Then Lobster heard the flapping right in front of him.  
Quickly, Lobster jumped back and triggered the trap. The pottery above came crashing down, and an angry roar was heard as the pots and bowls shattered against the floor and in mid air.  
Immediately, the dorms came alive, and Lobster’s clawmates were wide awake and on their feet.  
The MudWing who tried to take Starfruit from the week before appeared for a brief moment, her armoured head was scratched up from the clay falling on her. But what was most shocking was that her burns were completely gone, as if fire had never burnt her.  
And as soon as she appeared, she was gone again. Pieces of pottery where swept out of the cave as the MudWing flew away, Lobster tried to follow, but he was immediately pulled back by Blizzard.  
‘Hell no!’ Blizzard yelled, his wound had healed enough to allow him to talk freely, but he couldn;t strain it for a while. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?!’  
‘Language!’  
Ignoring Glow’s exclamation, Lobster pulled away from Blizzard. ‘I’m not letting her get away this time.’ he said, almost throwing himself out of the sleeping cave just before Silverscales spoke up.  
‘Lobster.’  
Her voice was so soft, so pleading, that Lobster immediately stopped what he was about to do. He turned to Silverscales, and saw Starfruit hiding under her beautiful wings, scales white with fear.  
Lobster felt his wings droop. He looked at Blizzard, and saw his IceWing friend’s worried face, his dark blue scar vivid against his face.  
Oh moons, I almost did something stupid. Lobster thought. He folded his wings, and went to help Glow and Falcon sweep out the broken pottery, no point keeping them anymore.  
‘Sorry,’ Lobster said to Blizzard once he was done, ‘You’re right, I shouldn’t go after her.’  
Blizzard nodded, then bumped wings with Lobster and winked, ‘Hey, gossipers gotta look out for each other.’  
Lobster made a face, ‘I’m sorry, gossiper?’  
‘Yeah dude! You’re like my gossip buddy.’  
‘Oh, oh ho! I’m not being called that.’  
‘Yes you are, and from here on out, you and I are gossip brothers!’  
Lobster yelped as Blizzard suddenly slung and arm over him and pulled him closer. ‘Come on, you like the name!’  
‘I really don’t.’ He really didn’t.

Classes went on like usual the next day, though Lobster didn’t know how. Were the Dragonets of Destiny even doing anything about the situation? They should be, right?  
Lobster nodded to a fellow SeaWing as they passed each other. Hopefully neither will have to see each other again in blood.  
Noting Lobster’s subtle paranoia, Blizzard bumped wings with him. ‘Hey, chill out dude.’ Blizzard said, winking to show that the pun was intended, ‘We can scare away that dragon with a lil’ old flute playing, she won’t ever come near us again.’  
‘Aww come on,’ Lobster said, ‘My flute playing can’t be that bad.’ He earned a laugh, but that was what he wanted anyway.  
The two dragonets entered the Music Cave, and took their spot right next to the bongos that Blizzard loved so much.  
‘Hey,’ Blizzard called, looking through some wind instruments, ‘You know what I noticed?’  
‘What?’  
‘You have an accent.’ Lobster’s face must have been skeptical, because Blizzard turned to him and backed up his claim. ‘I’m serious, dude!’ Blizzard had said, ‘Your glowy markings are so smooth and intricate, but then most SeaWings have ones that kinda looks similar to the sample picture. You even talk with an accent.’  
Does he? ‘Do I?’  
‘Oh yeah dude, other SeaWings talk with an uh… for a lack of better word, “ordinary” accent. Yours… Well, when you speak, some of your words are pronounced differently, and you kinda speak your words so perfectly that before, I thought you were reciting words you prepared beforehand.’  
Lobster inhaled through his teeth, ‘Huh, I never noticed,’ he said, taking a seat behind the bongos. ‘I always thought I adopted a RainWing or NightWing accent.’  
‘Oh you did,’ Blizzard said, he took the flute, ‘When I said kinda, it’s because you exaggerate your Rs and Ls. You also have that tone that Silverscales has when she first meets someone, low and smooth, but you do it when you don’t trust someone.’  
‘Have I ever not trust you?’  
‘Well, you didn’t trust the teacher in Art Class, according to Falcon.’  
Interesting. ‘I doubt my markings have that kind of influence.’  
‘I doubt it too.’  
Blizzard watched other dragonets play the wind instruments, and it hit Lobster how his IceWing friend was an acute listener and watcher. No wonder he was so decent at so many things.  
Watch and learn, as Lobster’s older brothers would tell him.  
It seems like it could be applied to certain dragons.  
Blizzard tried his talons at playing the flute, and Lobster could tell how much better it was than his attempt. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good for a first try.  
‘I thought you wanted to play it to drive dragons away.’ Lobster teased. He covered his ears when Blizzard pointed the flute at him and blew as hard as he could. Ow.  
‘Oops,’ Blizzard looked at the flute, which now had a bit of frost on the inside. He grinned sheepishly at the teacher staring from the other side of the room.  
After cleaning the flute and putting it back, Blizzard joined Lobster on the other side of the bongos. ‘Maybe I don’t play wind instruments,’ Blizzard said, tapping one of the two bongos.  
Lobster chuckled, ‘Maybe not.’  
Then both went silent, which was a bit out of place with the chaotic music playing in the background. But they had nothing to talk about, nothing other than the murderer that’s running amok.  
Blizzard was the first to give in, ‘I understand that Starfruit is very close to you,’ he started, looking up at Lobster. ‘But we’re dragonets, what can we do against that monstrosity?’  
‘Well it’s not as if whatever the Dragonets of Destiny are planning is working.’ Lobster grumbled, mindful of his tone. ‘For all we know, a third or fourth dragonet might be missing already.’  
‘Lobster…’  
‘Don’t “Lobster” me. First it was Starfruit, even if I didn’t investigate the noise last night, it would have been one of us. Come on, Blizzard, surely you want to get back at her for that scar…’  
When Blizzard brought up a claw and gingerly touched his scar, Lobster knew he had him. ‘It’s been too long, we can’t wait for the heroes to fix this if they don’t know what’s going on.’  
Blizzard took a long moment to consider, ‘So what do you suggest?’ he asked.  
‘We find out what’s going on for ourselves.’


	14. Scent

### SCENT

Falcon filled the noise trap with pebbles and rocks, and with Glow’s help, tied it back on the ceiling.  
‘It’s a real shame,’ Glow was saying, ‘I was hoping that I could show my parents the pot I made.’  
Falcon replied with a grunt, he looked out of the sleeping cave, silently wondering where his friends were. Four of them had left to gather some food back to the sleeping cave a little while ago, and Falcon’s paranoia was getting to him.  
Starfruit stretched her wings and yawned loudly, ‘You have dozens of vases back home, according to Blizzard,’ she said. She went and hopped onto Falcon’s back, looking like a tiny cat on his back.  
‘Never too many vases,’ Glow replied, looking up at the new noise trap. Stones should hurt more, Falcon had logicked, since they won’t shatter and scatter and would instead just rain down.  
Falcon sweeped out some dust with his tail, and just as he cleaned the entrance, he saw his friends flying back with enough fruit to last the weekend. Though he noticed something off with their expressions, it was as if they had bad news.  
They glided into the cave and dropped the fruits and prey into two piles, neither saying a word and all glancing at each other to silently tell each other ‘You say it.’ or ‘No, you say it.’  
‘What’s with the moody faces?’ Glow asked, approaching the group. She turned to them as they all averted her gaze.  
Silverscales was the one to break.  
‘We’re contemplating going after the murderer.’  
Starfruit made a noise of horror, scales turning pale as Falcon spun to face his friends.  
‘You can’t be serious!’ Falcon roared, but he knew that they were, And to be honest, he was glad that someone said it. The knowledge that the Dragonets of Destiny still haven’t apprehended the murderer yet was infuriating.  
But Falcon also felt as if he had to stop them from doing so.  
‘We’re 5!’ Falcon said, showing the number on his talons as if the rest didn’t know the numbers. ‘We’re dragonets! We can’t just risk our lives like that!’  
‘And risk everyone else’s lives?’ Lobster asked, finally turning to Falcon with a snarl. ‘This MudWing’s an animus, and she’s leading everyone in circles while she gets away with murder of our schoolmates! You just want to sit around and hope that she doesn’t come for us?’  
Falcon gently took Starfruit into his talons, as if he could block out the arguing for her by holding her. ‘And what if she kills one of us?’  
Gravel lifted his head to look at Falcon, ‘If we can at least give the Dragonets of Destiny a lead on the murderer, then it would be worth it.’  
As much as Falcon wanted to argue further, he didn’t. Starfruit was already scared, and he didn’t want to yell at Gravel. Besides, he was more than willing to risk his life if it meant helping the officials at the very least.  
‘Okay.’  
Silverscales looked at Starfruit, eyes apologetic and regretful. ‘Star, I know you’re scared. But if we have to die so that others won’t, don’t you think that’s a sacrifice worth doing? What would the Dragonets of Destiny do?’  
This seemed to get Starfruit thinking, and Falcon finally put her down on the floor.  
‘I think we should sleep it off.’ Blizzard suggested, obviously tired of the childish argument that Falcon and Lobster were engaged in. ‘Everyone’s tired, and I don’t want to talk about this anymore.’  
And so everyone went to sleep after a quiet dinner. No one was willing to argue any further either.

That night, everyone awoke to Glow screaming. And again, the dragonets chased the murderer away from Glow.  
And that was enough for Blizzard.  
‘That’s it,’ he snapped, ‘We’re going after her. Now.’  
Falcon expected an argument. After all, it was pretty late. But no one did, not even Starfruit.  
‘Pile the rocks on our beds,’ Falcon said, already undoing the noise trap that had failed its job, he poured out the large rocks and pebbles onto the floor. ‘If they see these from a distance, they won’t know it’s not us.’  
Falcon didn’t mention that it would only work at night, when the only lights were from the torches and lanterns, but everyone did as he said. Everyone grabbed random pieces of rocks and stacked them so that the silhouette would resemble a sleeping dragon. Falcon hoped that it would fool others for long enough.  
Once that was done, everyone dived out of their sleeping cave, wings spreading and their bodies gliding up toward the dormatry’s doorway, silent as they padded their way out.  
Faint snores could be heard from nowhere, meaning that the RainWing guards stationed here were asleep.  
So much for guards.  
The scent of the murderer was gone again, Falcon suspected that animus magic was at play.  
‘Where to first?’ Gravel asked in a whisper.  
The tunnels went both ways, but the winglet couldn't risk splitting up, unless they wanted to risk another one of them being attacked.  
‘Let’s try left,’ Lobster suggested from the back.  
So the winglet went left.  
Nothing could be heard from the group, a dragon’s talons could be retracted halfway into their digits, so the winglet did that, and their talons never touched the ground.  
The classes that the winglet passed through were void of clues. But Silverscales had mentioned that she doubted the hideout was located in any of them, they were used daily. ‘Maybe it’s deeper into the school,’ she whispered, ‘Where dragons rarely or never go.’  
And so deeper they went, passing classrooms and tunnels that led to more special rooms, until they arrived at a slope in the tunnel.  
‘Is this a good sign?’ Starfruit asked, squinting to peer down the dark tunnel.  
But Lobster had no problem seeing in the dark, he was a SeaWing, after all. ‘I don’t see anything,’ he said, ‘Just more rooms. I say proceed with caution.’  
Falcon walked in front of the group, blocking them with his large size while Lobster walked beside him, his night vision helping Falcon to navigate the dark tunnels.  
‘Stop.’  
Falcon immediately stopped, he grunted when Gravel bumped into him by accident. He turned to where he thought Lobster was, ‘What?’ he asked.  
Lobster’s markings slowly glowed, casting a pink light in the dark. ‘Dead end,’ he said, looking at the curved wall in front of the group. ‘Might be in one of the old rooms.’  
‘Well, something certainly smells down here,’ Gravel mentioned from behind, his snout was scrunched up when Falcon turned to look at him. ‘It smells like…’ Gravel trailed off, one claw waving in the air as he tried to find a word, ‘like steel.’  
Next to him, Blizzard’s ears stood and he gained a surprised reaction, ‘Must be blood,’ he exclaimed softly, ‘All the mystery scrolls I read all said blood smells like copper or any other metal, Gravel’s nose must be picking up weeks old blood trails.’  
Makes sense, Falcon thought. After all, MudWings had the strongest sense of smell among other tribes, Gravel’s nose could theoretically pick up scents from a month ago.  
‘Gravel, use your smell,’ Lobster instructed, ‘If we follow the trail, we should be able to locate this murderer and her hideout.’  
Gravel nodded and raised his head, sniffing the air and turning this way and that to locate the direction of the trail. If Falcon was being honest, it was pretty cool to watch Gravel sniff out something everyone else couldn’t.  
‘This way,’ Gravel said, turning back from the way they came.  
Lobster rushed to Gravel’s side, lighting the way as the winglet followed their lead.  
Gravel nearly left the tunnel that everyone had entered, only turning into the room near the main tunnel.  
Inside, the walls and floor were charred from an explosion, and littered everywhere were seemingly the really old remains of cacti. They made Glow gag when she accidentally stepped on one. Squishy and mushy. Disgusting.  
‘The trail ends here,’ Gravel said, he moved his head around, trying to catch the scent of blood. But like he said, the trail ended in the room.  
Falcon shot a small ball of fire at a pile of mushy cacti, lighting up the room with a soft light and a rotten smell. He regretted his decision, even more so when he saw Gravel’s face scrunch up in disgust.  
‘Look around,’ Lobster said, his pink glow illuminating the other side of the room as he strode around. ‘There might be a hidden entrance nearby.’  
The winglet split up to look around the room.  
As far as Falcon could see, the room was filled with rotten cacti and debri piles. Did the cacti cause the burnt walls and floor? If so, Falcon was glad that they were too old to be of any use now.  
If the murderer came here, her scent as well as the blood from dragonets would be shielded in this horrible smell. It was a miracle that Gravel could follow it all the way here.  
‘Guys,’ Blizzard called. He was standing by a large pile of debri when everyone turned to look at him. He gestured for everyone to come to him, and so they did.  
Blizzard pointed to the base of the pile, then he nudged the floor with a talon.  
An invisible rug blew dust away as it fell back down.  
‘Animus prop?’ Silverscales asked, she peered closer to the debri, she lightly pushed it. The rocks didn’t move at all.  
Falcon leaned down and put his forehead against the pile, he grunted and pushed the frozen pile out of the way, revealing a tunnel underneath the whole thing. He stared down as dust and dirt fell inside.  
‘Good find,’ Lobster said.  
The tunnel underneath the fake debri pile was large enough for Falcon to squeeze through, but if the murderer could fit in there, it would mean the tunnel was bigger than it looked.  
Clawsteps approached from the main tunnel.  
Everyone turned, eyes wide as the sound of something being dragged followed the clawsteps.  
Quickly, Blizzard blew his frostbreath over the burning cacti, and Lobster put out his pink glow. But they were still in danger.  
‘Go go go,’ Glow urged, she pushed Blizzard towards the tunnel.  
One by one, everyone dived into the tunnel, running deeper into a world they didn’t know.  
Falcon went last, and he dragged the fake debri pile over the hole just as he heard the confused growl. He had never heard his heart beat faster.  
He turned behind him, and saw Lobster’s markings glow to light the way for a brief moment.  
Hearing the clawsteps come closer to the tunnel’s entrance, Falcon ran after his friends. He couldn’t see where everyone was, he could only hear their breaths and clawsteps.  
The frantic clawsteps were suddenly everywhere. Falcon couldn’t tell if it was the echoes, or if it was the tunnel widening.  
But he knew he heard the sound of bumping and groaning up above.  
Falcon felt a cold tail brush his arm. Blizzard!  
He turned to the direction of Blizzard’s clawsteps, running after him to catch up. He only took two leaping runs before he crashed into Gravel’s back.  
‘Falcon?’  
Gravels claws clutched onto Falcon’s own, fear trembling through the MudWing.  
Lobster’s markings glowed softly, lighting up the path ahead of him. There was nothing but a void and the soft noise of a waterfall.  
‘We’re trapped,’ Lobster said, his pants almost drowned by the sound of the waterfall.  
Blizzard’s head whipped around, and Falcon managed to see true fear in his eyes for the first time. ‘She’s coming.’  
The winglet huddled near the edge, the sense of fight or flight high in the air. Was this where they fought and died? Was this the final sign to have trusted their cowardice instead of their courage?  
A cracking noise broke the tension.  
Everyone looked at the ground, it was cracking, fast.  
Falcon felt his heart skip a beat as he thought to himself, _We’re on a ledge._  
One final crack ringed throughout the cave, and along with it, the winglet’s screams as they fell.  
But by the time the murderer entered, the screams were cut off by the waterfall and the current of its river.

Falcon was sure he was dreaming. After all, how could a bizarre experience like running away from a murderer actually happen?  
‘Falcon?’  
Surely, he’ll wake up in his sleeping cave, and fear that he has accidentally crushed Starfruit, and then realize he didn’t.  
‘Falcon.’  
He’ll wake up and tell Gravel about this dream, then his sister. And she’ll laugh and say he had funny dreams.  
‘Falcon!’  
‘AH!’ Falcon’s eyes snapped open as he jolted on his side. He swivelled his head around, heart thudding as if it had stopped. Claws held his down when he tried to swing his talons.  
‘Falcon! Calm down! It’s me, Blizzard.’  
Falcon turned, his snout inches away from Blizzard’s scarred face as smoke pumped out of his nostrils.  
Blizzard didn’t look away. He simply held Falcon down until the smoke disappeared. ‘Are you alright?’  
After Blizzard’s claws were taken away, Falcon sat up. He checked his head, neck and body for injuries. His wings stretched with soreness, but his tail felt numb, he could hear it thump though.  
‘I… I think so,’ Falcon replied, ‘Where are the rest?’  
Blizzard frowned in worry, ‘Seperated, and hopefully alive,’ he said, though muttering the last part. ‘Lobster dragged us ashore, we’re lucky the murderer isn’t here.’  
Now that Blizzard mentioned it…  
Falcon looked around. They were in a large cavern, and few wingspans behind was a small waterfall and a small lake at the base of it. Then he realized he could only see it because Lobster’s pink glow was strong enough to pierce through the water surface.  
Speaking of the devil, Lobster breached through the surface, his head sticking out of the water as he swam towards the two. ‘I couldn’t find anyone else,’ he panted, no doubt dizzy from flashing his markings so brightly. ‘But I didn’t find any bodies at the bottom.  
Blizzard went over to the edge of the lake, claws held out to help Lobster.  
‘They must be somewhere else,’ Falcon said hopefully, standing up to shake off any more water. ‘Thanks for saving us, Lobster.’  
Lobster grabbed onto Blizzard’s arm, and Blizzard grabbed his, dragging him up the shore.  
Falcon eyed Lobster’s wings. ‘Or should I say… Prince Lobster.’


	15. Tunnels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am aware of how long it has been since I updated, and I apologize.  
> School and mental health has kinda ruined my motivation. Let's hope my motivation will come back soon.

### TUNNELS

Gravel could only hear his panting in his panic. He thumped Silverscales’s chest, then put his ear near her snout. She was breathing, but her breaths were fading.  
‘No no no, don’t you dare,’ Gravel said, though he was sure she could hear him. He placed his claws on her chest and thumped again, ‘Don’t you dare, don’t you dare, don’t you ever dare.’  
Suddenly, Silverscales jolted and hacked water out onto the ground. She coughed and tried to gulp in air at the same time, which resulted in her panicking.  
Gravel grabbed Silverscales’s claws, ‘Silver! Silver! Calm down!’ he exclaimed, ‘Deep breaths, deep breaths.’  
Silverscales turned to look at Lobster, and immediately calmed down a little. She was still coughing, but this time she was taking deep breaths at timed intervals. A few minutes later, she was fine.  
‘Gravel?’ she asked, though it was rhetorical. She looked around, then asked a question meant to be answered. ‘Everyone else, are they okay?’  
Gravel sighed, worry finally settling in as his adrenaline faded. ‘I don’t know,’ he admitted, ‘I can only hope they’re alive.’ He stepped back as Silverscales rolled onto her stomach.  
‘Where are we…?’ Silverscales asked, she looked at the river rushing behind Gravel, where he had dragged her out and attempted to save her.  
‘I honestly don’t know,’ Gravel said, looking at the tunnel ahead. ‘But the others must be down here somewhere.’  
He hoped so anyway, but he was already scared, and he knew that Silverscales must be too. Her spines were raised. It was such a giveaway, especially when she makes her voice sound calm.  
‘We should go find them,’ she said, turning to Gravel, ‘The others might be looking for us too.’  
Gravel frowned a bit and looked at his student pouch, somehow, it had stayed intact. He grabbed the wet leather strap and started to tear at it. His MudWing strength proved it to be easy.  
He threw the leather pieces and the destroyed pouch into the pool behind him. He then turned to Silverscales, who looked very confused. ‘Give me your pouch,’ he said, pointing to Silverscales’s own student pouch, ‘If the murderer comes looking for us, we need all the time we can get.’  
Silverscales at once understood Gravel’s plan, judging by how she had set her jaw. She used her talong to cut the strap and tossed it to Gravel.  
Gravel ripped the pouch as badly as he could and threw it into the pool with his own. Hopefully, the murderer will think they’re dead long enough for Gravel and Silverscales to find their friends and regroup.  
The pool’s planktons illuminated the cave for them, but now, they have to venture in the dark…  
‘Stay close…’ Gravel advised, a wing hovering over Silverscales in a protective way. The two dragonets then tread into the tunnel, slowly stepping through the dark with nothing but their tails and wings feeling out the walls and the ground above them.  
At one point, Gravel wondered if he should’ve kept the pouches, used them as dangling lanterns. But then again, they were wet, and Gravel’s too cold to breathe any fire. As far as he knew, Silverscales hadn’t breathed fire before.  
Oh well, Gravel thought to himself, At least the murderer won’t see us.  
Just as Gravel had finished that thought, Silverscales suddenly stopped, almost tripping her MudWing friend by accident.  
Before he could utter a single word (that word being ‘what’), Silverscales grabbed Gravel’s snout to prevent him from speaking. He gave her a look, and she put a talon to her snout. He almost didn’t see it.  
Both of them stood still, ears picking up nothing but the drips of water from somewhere nearby, the clicking of lizards, and someone screaming…  
‘What?’ Gravel looked at Silverscales, eyes wide with confusion. ‘Is that what I think it is?’ he asked in a whisper, only the corner of his mouth moving as he spoke.  
‘I don’t know…’ Silverscales whispered back, ‘But it doesn’t sound like anyone from our winglet.’  
Gravel crept forward, making sure his talons didn’t click against the floor as he did. He felt Silverscales’s wing brush against his tail as she followed up behind him.  
As the two dragonets snuck onward, the voice grew louder and louder. Soon, words could be made out, but just barely. The voice sounded like a dragonet’s. Judging by the way they’re huffing and grunting between their words, they were being dragged.  
‘You won’t get away with this!’ the dragonet was yelling, ‘Princess Sunny wil- Ow. Princess Sunny will find you! Ow. Princess Tsunami will- Ow! Find you! Ow!’  
Gravel slowed down in his tracks, noticing that there was light coming from the far end of the tunnel, where the voice was coming from.  
He reached an arm out and stopped Silverscales from going any further, ‘We can’t go there,’ he said, ‘There’s two, very small us, and one very big her.’  
Both flinched when a door slammed, the noise rattled Gravel’s bones as it echoed.  
‘Cienaga never gets caught,’ a raspy voice said, chuckling cruelly as a click sounded. A lock. ‘Cienaga will get away, and destiny cannot stop her. Neither will these pesky dragonets.’  
A shadow suddenly appeared, the silhouette of the murderer turning towards the tunnel that Gravel and Silverscales were in.  
Quickly, Gravel pushed Silverscales’s shoulder, ‘Go! Go go!’ he urged softly. He turned tail and ran after his friend just as the shadow grew bigger and bigger, as the murderer came closer to them.  
Gravel kept his eye on Silverscales's tail, keeping track of where she was running. Were they running back to where they came from? Or did they go down a different path? Gravel didn’t know  
But when he looked up, Silverscales suddenly skidded to a halt. This time, Gravel tripped over her. Both yelling as one toppled over the other and the other toppling over and under.  
Gravel shook Silverscales’s tail off and looked right into Glow’s face. He yelped in fright and almost tangled himself and Silverscales again.  
‘Oh my moons!’ Starfruit exclaimed, ‘Are you guys okay?’


	16. Regroup

### REGROUP

‘I hate being wet,’ Glow grumbled, she squeezed water out of her crest, hoping that it would be enough for it to stand again.  
Behind her, Starfruit was chipping off glowing mushrooms. Not to eat, but to use as light. She was tying her pouch’s strap into knots, each knot holding a clawful of mushrooms, it surprisingly worked.  
‘Do you think the others dried off better?’ Glow asked. She turned to Starfruit just in time to see a stray green blotch or two, but they disappeared as soon as they had appeared.  
Starfruit turned around, showing off the glowing lantern she was holding. ‘I hope so,’ she replied, ‘We could catch a cold down here.’ She looked up to the waterfall behind Glow, ‘The water was really cold too.’  
Glow turned to look at the waterfall as well. She and Starfruit had been washed away from the others, and were tossed into the pool below by the waterfall. Luckily for them, there were no rocks in the way, so they were able to stay conscious during the ride.  
‘I would light us a fire,’ Glow started to say, ‘But…’ She touched her neck, where her pouch used to be. It has been lost sometime after the winglet fell, most likely slipped off.  
Starfruit waved a talon, almost in a dismissive way, ‘It’s fine,’ she assured. ‘At least we have a light source.’ Starfruit handed the lantern to her tail, Glow had always thought it was too long for a dragon’s good, but it seemed useful now.  
‘We should find the others,’ Glow said, she shifted to her feet and shook off some water, much to Starfruit’s chagrin.  
The RainWing huffed and clambered onto Glow’s back, much like how a toddler would to their older sibling. She held the lantern out, her tail was so long that it didn’t hinder her hold on Glow’s back.  
Glow exhaled through her teeth, nervous to plunge into the dark tunnels. She wanted to think she was reasonably so. If she ran into the murderer, if she ran into her friend’s corpses… So many other possibilities lied in roaming the tunnel, and most of them were bad.  
Tentatively, Glow stalked into the tunnel ahead of her, using Glow’s lantern to see what was in front of her.

The tunnels were quite short, with splits or dead ends no more than 10 steps in. It was dizzying to Glow to walk around like this, turning here and turning there and turning back… Glow was starting to believe that she was just walking in circles at this point.  
‘Wait,’ Starfruit suddenly said, she yelped when Glow stopped as suddenly as she was speaking. Starfruit adjusted her grip on Glow’s back as she held her lantern out to their right, where there was a big cave. At least, Glow thought it was a cave.  
Starfruit nudged for Glow to head into it. Glow didn’t want to be walking in circles again, so she did as Starfruit gestured to do, entering the cave with her barbed tail held up.  
The cave turned out to be a larger tunnel, leading to what probably was a deeper part of the mountain Glow and her winglet were trapped in. There was also a hole in the wall leading to what seemed like a drop.  
Glow approached the aforementioned opening, she spread her wings so that she wouldn’t fall, and stood near the edge of the drop. Not a sound came from the dark, dark depths of emptiness.  
On her back, Starfruit plucked out a small piece of glowing mushroom from her lantern and tossed it down the drop, illuminating parts of it for a short moment. But as it fell, Glow could’ve sworn she saw something floating in the water…  
She suddenly felt Starfruit’s talons dig under her scales. She flinched.  
Starfruit seemed to have noticed, because she relaxed her grip on Glow’s back.  
‘Sorry,’ Starfruit whispered, ‘I… I thought I saw something in the water below.’  
Glow turned away from the drop, she didn’t want to stay any longer than she had to. ‘It must be you,’ Glow lied, hoping in her head that what she saw was just a piece of seaweed or cloth, ‘I didn’t see anything.’  
Starfruit didn’t say anything after that. And Glow was almost afraid that she had somehow upsetted her, but surely not, right?  
‘What if they’re dead?’ Starfruit asked, voice soft and, much to Glow's despair, hopeless.  
Turning to the RainWing, Glow tried to offer what she hoped was a reassuring smile. ‘They’ll be fine, Star.’ she said, she hoped her words didn’t sound hollow. ‘We’re dragons, we’re hardier than a waterfall current. Remember The Scorching? The SandWing Succession War? We’re still here right? We can handle this, I read that our ancestors lived in caves without furniture or rugs before The Scorching.’  
Starfruit nodded, but said nothing.

Glow’s feet were starting to hurt. How long had she been walking for?  
Starfruit’s tail was starting to sag. Though she didn’t walk, holding out the lantern had made her tired. Holding out a limb for an eternity sounded and looked tiring.  
Were they any closer to getting out? To finding their friends? To finding the murderer? Only the dragon gods will know.  
Just as Glow was about to suggest resting, she heard skittering. At first, she thought it was the occasional bug or lizard, but then the skittering turned into thuds. The thuds then turned into… clawsteps.  
Glow’s tail swung up, ready to fight whoever was approaching with such a quick pace. Starfruit had stood up, the telltale hissing told Glow that her RainWing friend had her fangs out, venom at the ready.  
When a shadow came into view, Glow almost sprang forward for a surprise attack, until she saw a flash of familiar grey scales. And not a moment too soon, a flash of brown scales.  
Glow could only watch as the two colours yelped and tumbled over one another, but Starfruit was by their side as soon as they stopped rolling. Glow quickly followed.  
Why, the tumbling colours were Silverscales and Gravel! Alive!  
Gravel yelped when he looked up.  
‘Oh my moons!’ Starfruit exclaimed, talons hovering over her snout, ‘Are you guys okay?’  
Silverscales was quick to untangle herself from Gravel, she grabbed Starfruit by the shoulders as Gravel accepted Glow’s talon that she had outstretched to him.  
‘We need to go,’ Silverscales said, her voice urgent and shrill from fear, ‘Now.’


	17. Brothers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone that has been waiting for a new chapter,
> 
> I am so, so sorry

### BROTHERS

Blizzard had never felt so uncomfortable in his entire life. Not only because he was wet, but because Lobster and Falcon were glowering at each other, and they were only a wingspread apart.  
Lobster’s wing pigments washed away when the winglet was swept away from the waterfall, and his wings displayed the spirals of the royal SeaWing family, the pinkness of them bright against his grey membranes.  
Of course, Falcon was not happy. In fact, he was furious. Why, Blizzard could not fathom.  
Sure, Blizzard felt upset that Lobster had kept this secret from them. They were friends! They could trust each other, couldn’t they?  
But on the other talon, Blizzard understood why Lobster hid it. Silverscales had told them that Lobster came to the rainforest after he got lost in said rainforest, he had ran away from home in hopes of getting his mother’s attention.  
According to Silverscales, it was King Deathbringer who brought him back home, and it was he who brought Lobster to Silverscales and Starfruit when he learned that his mother never considered his disappearance.  
It all made much more sense now.  
Lobster’s avoidance of Princess Tsunami, his discomfort of even the mention of being rich, among other things. They reminded him of the SeaWing palace, and risked his cover of an ordinary dragonet.  
Did Falcon know that too? Or was he blind with the feeling of betrayal?  
Blizzard frowned deeper. Did Silverscales and Starfruit know? They probably did, they probably even helped him make the pigment to cover his wing markings.  
It also explained Lobster’s accent. He had the royal accent before, but it was probably dampened by the RainWing and NightWing accents.  
Blizzard didn’t want Falcon and Lobster to walk side by side, but Lobster’s light was needed, and he didn;t trust himself to stop one or the other from pouncing and fighting if he took one of their places in front.  
But they wouldn’t fight, right?  
Lobster lifted his head, his two-coloured eyes taking in something the others couldn’t see. Bless his natural night vision and warnings.  
‘There’s stalactites up ahead, duck your heads until I give the all clear.’  
Falcon grumbled as he lowered his head, ready to travel under the rock formations. ‘Sure thing, Your Highness.’  
Oh no, Blizzard thought as Lobster raised his head, stopping in his tracks and forcing the other two to stop as well.  
‘Alright,’ Lobster seethed, ‘let’s get this over with.’  
Falcon looked at the SeaWing with unconcern on his face, ‘There’s nothing to get over,’ he simply said, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’  
That only made Lobster angrier. ‘You’re mad, I can tell! You think you’re hiding it but I can see your spines standing! Out with it!’  
Blizzard almost yelped and stumbled back when Falcon whipped around, teeth bared in a hostile snarl, all trace of tolerance gone.  
‘Out with it?! So you’re giving orders now?! What do you want next? A red carpet to lead you to your room? Gold and treasures to shower in? What? What do you want next?!’  
Lobster looked as if he had been slapped, and for a moment he struggled for words to say. Blizzard could see his markings’ glow spike as the SeaWing tried to sort out his emotions and words, his fins flattened against his back.  
‘Are you still angry about this?’ Lobster asked, his voice soft now, as the spirals on his wings glowed for emphasis.  
Falcon scoffed. His snarl did not fade, but when he spoke, his voice was softer. ‘What do you think?’ he asked, then his voice raised, ‘I thought we were friends. I thought we trusted each other! And I find out that you’re keeping a secret like this!’ Falcon jabbed a talon at Lobster’s chest, ‘And for what? So Your Highness can play peasant? So you can go home and laugh about it with your mother?’  
Lobster snapped.  
‘I haven’t seen my mother… IN 5 YEARS!’  
Both Falcon and Blizzard flinched back. They had not heard Lobster scream before, and not such hurt.  
Lobster thumped his tail, angry. ‘I wish I could go back to the palace, I wish I could go laugh with my brothers and sisters and my mother, I wish I could! But guess what?! I’M NOT! You wanna know why?!’ He told them anyway. ‘Because my mother doesn’t care! Because she’s soooo obsessed with her daughters that me and my 52 brothers don’t matter! Because she’s soooooooo intent on raising Auklet and Anemone that she doesn’t notice when I run away from home! Because she’s SOOOOO obsessed with Tsunami the lost heir, Anemone the animus, and Auklet the sweet new baby, that her sons might as well not exist!!’  
Blizzard kept quiet, and reached out to rest his claws on Falcon’s shoulder when he saw the SkyWing open his snout to instinctively shoot back a reply. He almost sighed in relief when Falcon decided not to say anything.  
Lobster didn’t say anything else either, he simply turned around and ducked his head, heading down the path like they were going to do before.

They stopped to rest after clearing the stalactite. There was a clear area a few steps after the hanging stones, and they had salvaged enough leather from their destroyed pouches to start a fire with Falcon’s breath.  
Blizzard shivered, but he wasn’t cold like how other dragons would be when they shiver. IceWings would shiver when they were warm instead, and that’s how Blizzard felt.  
As grateful as he was for the fire to dry him off, he didn’t really want it around anymore. But his friends were cold, so he just stayed a little far from the fire.  
He glanced at Falcon, then at Lobster. Both stared at the fire, not making eye contact with each other nor him. And honestly? It annoyed Blizzard a little. He hated seeing his relatives bicker, he hated arguing with Glow, and he hated seeing his friends like this.  
He had to say something.  
‘Are we really doing this?’ Blizzard asked, turning both of his friends’ attention to him. He almost flinched back. ‘We came hunting for this dragon together. Are we really going to hold this up between us?’  
Falcon frowned. He did not say anything.  
Lobster sighed and finally looked at Falcon, ‘Look, I’m sorry, Falcon… I’m aware of your past with the uh… awful friends, and I can see how my secret rubs off on you the wrong way. I’m sorry. I should have told everyone, you guys wouldn’t have treated me differently, nor would any of you have treated me differently. I trust you guys, I really do, I just-’  
Falcon lifted a claw, causing Lobster to fall silent. But Falcon did not look angry, he looked as if he understood, and he probably did.  
‘I get it,’ Falcon said, ‘I get why you didn’t say anything. You’re a prince, after all, and there’s all that complicated shit with status and heritage and whatever those bootlickers go on about.’  
Blizzard opened his snout to say something, he didn’t know what he wanted to say, probably just to exclaim a “Hey!” for Falcon’s choice of words. But Falcon quieted him by gently placing his large claw on Blizzard’s snout.  
Finally, both Lobster and Falcon acknowledged Blizzard with apologetic looks.  
‘We’re sorry,’ Falcon started, ‘for arguing like this.’  
Lobster continued, ‘I know what it feels like to get caught in between arguments, I’m sorry we did it to you.’ He reached over and patted Blizzard’s shoulder, ‘We truly are very sorry, I hope you can forgive us.’  
Blizzard stared at his two friends, feeling dumbfounded and unsure of how to react. He did not expect Falcon to be the first to say sorry, nor did he expect for the tension to ease so quickly. Guess he still had a lot to learn about his friends.  
‘Hey,’ Blizzard bumped his friends’ wings with his own, grinning at them as he did. ‘We’re brothers, of course I forgive you.’  
Falcon huffed out a chuckle, ‘Brothers.’  
Lobster returned Blizzard’s grin, ‘Brothers.’


End file.
